nes and snes ultima games worth playing?

[AlexKidd]

I remember playing some of the pc ultima games with my dad back in the day and I kind of want to play one now. However, I don't have any old computers to play the original games on and I prefer to play on a console anyway.

So I wanted to know how the ultima games are on the nes and snes. I know there's a few of them. I believe I have one or two somewhere but i've never played them.

[pseudonym]

Ultima Exodus (3) is alright but there are a few people that really love it. Ultima Quest of the Avatar (4) is really good IMO. A lot of people seem like this one the best as far as I can tell. Ultima Warriors of Destiny (5) is alright but a little worse than Exodus. Quite a few people seem to think that this one is utter garbage, at least on the NES.

These are about the NES versions. Only Quest of the Avatar was released for the SMS but I've never played that version. It was supposedly only released in Europe but you can find it in Canada as well.

[Cantaloup]

Here is the obligatory mention of the xu4 project (http://xu4.sourceforge.net/), which allows you to run Ultima IV (which is freeware now) on modern operating systems. You may also want to look into Exult (http://exult.sourceforge.net/).

[gdement]

Ultima Exodus for NES was the first RPG I ever played. It's a decent effort at porting the computer version, and I enjoyed it immensely. I prefer it due to better graphics/sound than the old Apple version. I haven't played the IBM version.

Ultima 4 (Avatar) is a good game on the NES, but it's a rather liberal conversion from the computer versions. It's more of a mainstream console-style RPG. Very well done in any case, and I'd be playing it if I had a copy.

The SMS version of Ultima 4 is a completely different take. They made a much more literal port of the computer version. If you want to play the computer version on a console, then the SMS is the way to go. Note that I haven't played this version much at all, but I loaded it in an emulator for a few minutes one time and noticed it's obviously intended to clone the computer version.

I haven't played any other Ultimas on a console.
Based on your post, I'd recommend the NES version of Ultima 3 (Exodus) and the SMS version of Ultima 4.

[Blitzwing256]

I'd greatly recomend ultima exodus, its one of my favorate games of all time and my second favorate rpg (only slightly beaten out by dragon warrior 3) it follows the same plot stroyline flow of the original pc version but makes it a bit easier and more fun to play overall. a few examples: the enemeies are scalled based on your level so you won't get whiped out on the overwolrd for lack of experience. when you die you don't have to start over from your last save, your lead charecter is revived. its generally a very enjoyable game to play (though a bit tough compared to newer games) the only complaint I had with it is unlike the pc version you can not choose the gender of your charcter, ie some are set to male and some are set to female, a very small gripe.

overall if you liked the pc version you'll love the nes version so go get it!

[6502]

Ultima VI on the SNES is a very good port. Not much was cut out or changed at all, the most noticeable thing is the character portraits are missing, which kind of sucks since that art was so nice, but it's a small thing. The interface is different to handle a controller, but it's easy enough to play.

The port of VII is very much cut down though, so I wouldn't bother with that one.

[j_factor]

Ultima V on NES is downright terrible. Don't even waste your time downloading the ROM. It's really, really horrendous. I haven't played the computer versions, but I'm told they're much better.

I really liked the NES version of Exodus. It was updated decently, and I prefer it to the computer version.

Ultima IV is kind of weird. IMO they went kind of overboard with the changes on NES. EVERYTHING is different; it was kind of "Dragon Warrior"-ized. The SMS version is perhaps too faithful of a port, as it runs in a window and retains the one-tile-at-a-time movement, which I found to be annoying. But the SMS (and computer) version is better in many other ways. For Ultima IV, I'd say it's a matter of personal preference, as both console versions have their fans and detractors.

Ultima VI is terrific on SNES. No real problems with the port at all.

Ultima VII lost a shitload of features in the process of being ported to SNES. Consequently, it's a lot more boring. I really wouldn't recommend it.

[telengard]

I remember playing some of the pc ultima games with my dad back in the day and I kind of want to play one now. However, I don't have any old computers to play the original games on and I prefer to play on a console anyway.

So I wanted to know how the ultima games are on the nes and snes. I know there's a few of them. I believe I have one or two somewhere but i've never played them.

Personally (you are asking for opinions right? :) ). I don't care for the Nintendo versions. A little too cartoony for me. Just not my taste. U3 and U4 are probably best played on the C64. I played U4 on the Atari ST though, U3 on the C64.

~telengard

[calthaer]

I'm going to throw another opinion in the pot here re: the SNES port of Ultima VII:

IT IS CRAP ON A STICK.

It falls so far short of the glory of the PC game that it is not worth it even if you find it for $2 at a flea market.

Use Exult.

[Ze_ro]

Honestly, if you want to play an Ultima game, forget about any of the console versions, as they are all pale imitations of the excellent PC games. The exceptions being the "Runes of Virtue" games, which were only released on consoles... although they're not quite as deep as the "real" Ultima games.

New computers generally have trouble with these old games, so I recommend using DOSBox (http://dosbox.sf.net) to play them. All the games are listed as "supported" on their compatibility list, so you shouldn't have much trouble getting them to work. However, Ultima 7 (part 1 and 2) used a very odd memory management system that might be a little tricky to set up in DOSBox unless you know your way around DOS (I might be wrong here, as I've never tried this myself)... so if you run into trouble, then use Exult (http://exult.sf.net) for them instead.

--Zero

[Soviet Conscript]

i never played the versions for nes or snes but i do have ultima collection for the pc. which is 1-7 i beleive along with the 2 underworld games. although 7 is lacking the 2 expansions. but if you want to grab most of the pc versions in one swoop...yhea, there is a "collections" box set out there. i picked mine up back when the PC section at eb acually rivaled the console section and they acually called it electronics boutiqe which means your gonna need to hit ebay for it. good thing is there all on cd and i've had no trouble running mine on an xp and a me system.