Great arcade games with bad console ports - your thoughts!

[Geddon_jt]

Hey guys - tried to search out a topic in this vein, but I was unable to find one.
Had an idea for a topic today. I thought we could try naming some great arcade games that received console ports that never quite hit the mark of the original. We all know of some great ones - ie, Soul Calibur DC port, R-Type Turbografx port.

For me, the first that comes to mind would be Gauntlet. I loved this game as a kid and tried the NES version, the LYNX version, the commodore version, and none of them seemed to match or come close to the arcade experience (perhaps one of the reasons its such a great addition to the Xbox live arcade!)

Same goes for Rastan. The SMS port never did it for me, and as far as I recall, that was really the only one available back in the day.

Anyone think of any others?

[hbkprm]

contra
super c(ontra)
after burner
narc


i can go on forever

[Gamereviewgod]

contra
[i]super c(ontra)

The arcade versions are killed by the NES port, or are you thinking of a different port?

[Ed Oscuro]

After Burner got some great ports...I recently read somebody on 1up saying "gee maybe we'll get After Burner III!" Well, there was an After Burner III...on the FM Towns.

Anyhow, Contra and Super C on home consoles were great. The Super C intro in arcades was really the best thing about the game lacking from the home version...other than that it was a poorly animated, generally ugly title that got a huge improvement in the home release. Same goes for Contra.

One game that didn't fare too well was Galaxy Force II. There are some great ports - FM Towns and Saturn (Japan only on both of 'em), but here in the states you were stuck with the Genesis port...which really isn't too good.

[pragmatic insanester]

final fight (snes)

[Arcade Antics]

For me, the first that comes to mind would be Gauntlet. I loved this game as a kid and tried the NES version, the LYNX version, the commodore version, and none of them seemed to match or come close to the arcade experience (perhaps one of the reasons its such a great addition to the Xbox live arcade!)

You must have missed Gauntlet (IV) for the Genesis. It's outstanding.

I agree that the NES "port" sucks though. It just isn't Gauntlet.

In the same vein, I'll defend the coin-op versions of Contra and Super Contra as well. The NES games are indeed excellent, but they're not really the same as their original coin counterparts. For that reason, they lose points in my book (I really have a book) for their failure to properly match the original games.

Anyhoo, yeah, there are too many bad ports to even mention. So I'll quit while I'm ahead.

[Arcade Antics]

After Burner got some great ports...I recently read somebody on 1up saying "gee maybe we'll get After Burner III!" Well, there was an After Burner III...on the FM Towns.

It's on Sega CD too.

[Ed Oscuro]

Edit: oops, misread that as Galaxy Force II.

I didn't know about that one, though. Probably a fair port.

Edit2: Just beat Mission 1 of Galaxy Force II in MAME without any deaths, yay! Don't have a joystick for my PC at the moment, so the mouse had to do.

[evildead2099]

Konami's THE SIMPSONS - a beat-em up - was ported to MS DOS, and sucks. The game was also ported to the C64, but I haven't tried that port.

The Atari 2600 port of PAC MAN is horrendous.

The Genesis port of TIME KILLERS somehow managed to turn out worse than the coin-op edition of that game!

The SNES port of WRESTLEMANIA: THE ARCADE GAME sucks, especially when compared to the Genny port. It lacks the game's 2 largest grapplers: Bam Bam Bigelow and Yokozuna.

The SNES port of FINAL FIGHT sucks, due to slowdown, censorship, and the lack of multiplayer action.

The SNES port of MORTAL KOMBAT 1 is terrible. Although it looks better than the Genny port, its control scheme was altered and is very slugish. SNES censorship detracted from MK1's key attraction: its gore and fatalities.

The Gameboy port of MORTAL KOMBAT 1 is awful, although the MK2 port is considerably better.

REVOLUTION X was never effectively ported, to my knowedge. I own the Genny and PC ports, have tried the SNES port, and have read reviews regarding the Saturn and PS1 ports: none of them turned out very great. The PC port plays fairly well, but looks inexcusably terrible due to excessive pixelation.

[atomicthumbs]

Pac-Man - VCS (though I can't help but love it)

[NE146]

The Atari 2600 port of PAC MAN is horrendous.

The 2600 port of Amidar is worse

2600 Pacman is bad, but at least it has been rectified in so many ways as of late on the 2600 with lots of Pacmans for it now.

[Ed Oscuro]

Konami's THE SIMPSONS - a beat-em up - was ported to MS DOS, and sucks. The game was also ported to the C64, but I haven't tried that port.

For the life of me, I hate to think why Konami secured rights to create so many great arcade games and then didn't obtain console rights. Bucky O' Hare got an NES port...but what about Aliens, GI Joe, even Metamorphic Force and Dadandarn (aka Beast Brawlers, I think)?

Mystic Warriors also needed a port...

[evildead2099]

The Atari 2600 port of DOUBLE DRAGON is (predictably) awful. I dislike the Sega Master System port of that game as well; although it 1-ups the NES port by including 2-player simultaneous play in story mode, the SMS port is sluggish and features poor control.

Although the NES port of BURGER TIME plays really well, it's unnecessarily inferior to the arcade game in the sense that Data East tweaked the game's difficulty to a ridiculous extent!

[evildead2099]

Konami's THE SIMPSONS - a beat-em up - was ported to MS DOS, and sucks. The game was also ported to the C64, but I haven't tried that port.

For the life of me, I hate to think why Konami secured rights to create so many great arcade games and then didn't obtain console rights. Bucky O' Hare got an NES port...but what about Aliens, GI Joe, even Metamorphic Force and Dadandarn (aka Beast Brawlers, I think)?

Mystic Warriors also needed a port...

I agree with you; I was always looking forward to playing Aliens on the NES or perhaps the Genesis...

There were 2 GI Joe games on the NES, but both were from Capcom (as opposed to Konami). I didn't know that there was a GI Joe arcade game. How does it compare?

[davidbrit2]

After Burner got some great ports...I recently read somebody on 1up saying "gee maybe we'll get After Burner III!" Well, there was an After Burner III...on the FM Towns. :D

There's a new After Burner coming out for Sega's Lindbergh arcade hardware.
http://sega.jp/arcade/lindbergh/title_ab.html

Okay, games with lousy home ports...
Turbo Outrun
Outrunners

There are ports of Turbo Outrun for the FM Towns and DOS PCs, but I haven't played either of those. Hopefully they're better than the Genesis version.

And of course, with Sega, it's much easier to fill volumes with the games that didn't get any home conversion, rather than just getting a crappy one. Where's my Dreamcast Sega Super GT and Daytona 2, bitches???

[Ed Oscuro]

After Burner got some great ports...I recently read somebody on 1up saying "gee maybe we'll get After Burner III!" Well, there was an After Burner III...on the FM Towns.

There's a new After Burner coming out for Sega's Lindbergh arcade hardware.
http://sega.jp/arcade/lindbergh/title_ab.html

A fighting shooter on hardware named after a pacifist?

I see they dropped the regular naming convention in favor of a name based system...probably would help the confusion. I guess that makes sense because the newest Space Harrier didn't use the simple numeric scheme, either.

[evildead2099]

Where's my Dreamcast Sega Super GT and Daytona 2, bitches???

[Eternal Champion]

I agree that Gauntlet IV on Genesis kicks ass; probably the best home port of it. I admit I enjoyed the NES version back in the day, despite the cheesy graphics and horrible slow-down.

I also liked the SNES Final Fight despite its shortcomings, as it looked so good for its time.

[Jumpman Jr.]

I think the worst one that comes to mind is Burgertime on the NES. Its virtually unplayable with the hellishly sticky controlls that they set it up with. Its a fun port on the Intellivision, but not the NES.

[icbrkr]

Konami's THE SIMPSONS - a beat-em up - was ported to MS DOS, and sucks. The game was also ported to the C64, but I haven't tried that port.

Definetly try the C64 port - it's very surprising on how well it's done.

http://www.lemon64.com/games/details.php?ID=2314