Versions

[emumuumuucowgomoo]

So I was reading the thread about SNES/Genesis ports and it got me thinking...

One of my favorite little obsessions in videogame collecting is different versions of things. Little differences that aren't that well publicized, but trigger that autistic dork in all of us. Or maybe he's just in me. Anyway -

What are some of the obscure variations you've heard about or witnessed? My speciality is NES games, and let me tell you, aside from a few label variations (label variations... YAWN) and the Wisdom Tree games, I can't think of a single game that actually has bona fide variations. Besides Super Mario Brothers 3 - the first American release had a grammatical error in the "slot" game.

I've read lots of reports on Maniac Mansion and the hamster-nuking... however I read testimony from a reliable source that it's all urban legend and myth, and all released copies in the states featured this. Possibly the overseas version is the one they meant to finger - after all, it's a well known fact that ever since World War 2, Europeans became sensitive little sensitive-people, and are unable to withstand the sight of red pixels, lest their invisible mommies materalize and beat them with a baguette.

(to all the Europeans on the boards - I don't mean YOU. Just the "you" that comes across in the legislation of your governing bodies. And yes, yes, you DO detect some resentment in my voice. It's a medical condition that Crap Cross doesn't cover so I can't get treatment for. Now excuse me while I debate evolution and worship the Flag, which is what us Americans do all day long, according to our government)


Anyway - so post about the different versions and variations you've encountered in gaming. Make comparisions, draw parallels, and take a critically subjective point of view.

[klausien]

Virtua Racing is my personal favorite game to examine the evolution of different versions with. The Genesis version is very impressive, especially when you look at something like Stunt Race FX, but the graphics are obviously the worst of all of the conversions. The game plays well though and looks awesome on a Nomad. The 32X version was the best up until the recent Sega Ages VR: Flat Out. THE reason to even bother with the 32X. The Saturn version, by Time Warner Interactive as opposed to any of the Sega AM teams, looks nice and has some decent extra tracks and modes, but the control lacks responsiveness, making it play less like VR than it should. Finally, the PS2 Sega Ages version is probably the best home version. The graphics are light sourced, unlike the truly flat shaded arcade game, but they didn't fix the pop-up, which is a sin.

That takes me to my second favorite game to do this with: Daytona USA. The Saturn original looked pretty bad and was saddled with pop-up that actually affected the gameplay, but the control was very good. Not exactly like the arcade, but FUN. Daytona CCE improved the graphics quite a bit and added some nice extra tracks, but the handling is quite poor. It ruins an otherwise stellar game. Finally, our prayers were answered with the DC Daytona. The graphics are leagues better than even the Model 2 original and it was cool to race online for the first time (for me at least). The control took some tinkering and adjustment, but it is rather like the original, even moreso than any of its predecessors.

It is also cool to look at the evolution of Virtua Fighter and Street Fighter.