Putting the Arcade Card through its paces (56k)

[klausien]

I recently dropped a giant amount of cash on replacing my long ago traded away Kisado so I could use the Arcade Card on my Duo. I also picked up a counterfeit/bootleg/"reprint" Sapphire and I must say that it is real enough for me. Not perfect, but impressive. What amazes me is the similarities composition-wise between Sapphire's music and that of DoDonPachi (Sapphire level 2 and DDP level 1 are shockingly similar, and not the only similarities), but that is another thread. When I had ACD capability previously, I went straight for Strider (sucks), so I can wait this time. What interests me most now is the SNK fighters.

So, I also picked up Fatal Fury Special, Fatal Fury 2, Art of Fighting and World Heroes 2. I have only received the first on the list as of yet, but that didn't stop me from the inevitable version comparison. I did a quick Terry vs. Mai for each of the three versions I have. Unfortunately, none of them are the Neo Geo original, but I have MAME for comparisons sake. Don't really have much to say about the original in this context anyway. (All pictures are done though emulation due to my lack of a capture card)



Popped in the SNES version first. Sound is lacking and the announcer is missing his pre-fight announcements. Actually, the character select and pre-fight sequence are quite different from the original. The intro is also not present, at least right away. I didn't wait to see. The game is presented in a letterboxed format as expected, but it is centered, so it is less apparent than in the Capcom games. The characters are unfortunately small and poorly animated. Color depth is expectedly good, but not necessarily arcade-authentic in terms of hue. Backgrounds retain parallax, and the time of day changes per round. The water in Mai's stage looked best on the SNES. It retains the two planes, but characters do not scale. Sound effects are the best of the three, despite being muffled. Voices are either muffled or nonexistant, which is disappointing. Music is expectedly worse than the redbook CD tunes, but it is a fair approximation of the arcade tunes. The worst part is that the control a bit rough (though this may be due to the mushy SNES pad). Much better than the unplayable SNES Fatal Fury, but lacking a bit of the feel of the arcade game. Back when this was released, I would have given it the benefit of the doubt. Now, it is pretty bad. Give me SFII Turbo any day.



Next was the Sega CD version. Being a CD game, there are loading screens, but I have an X'Eye, so they are tolerable. Nowhere near the horrors of the Sega CD version of MK I. The arcade intro is intact and the music is redbook excellence. There is no map in the pre-fight sequence. The characters are much larger in this version and it is full screen. Animation seems to be a step up from the SNES version, but that may be the larger characters talking. Colors are lacking, giving a washed-out appearance, but it is a Genesis so I can deal. Pre-fight announcements are back, but the game lacks music in the afterfight screens. There is no change in time of day per round and again parallax is lacking. Flags on Mai's raft are missing. Actually, even with my limited playtime, it was pretty apparent that the backgrounds were scaled back considerably to allow for bigger, better fighters, and that is ok with me. Gameplay is tighter due to the Genesis 6-button, but it is much slower than the other two ports and the arcade original. Characters again do not scale in between planes. The real achilles heel of this version is the voices and sound effects. Everything is incredibly tinny. Voices are like SFII on the Genesis, which is unfortunate. The music sounds so good and then the effects blow. Frustrating.



Finally, the new blood in my collection, the PCE Arcade Card version. I had heard good things, and the HuCard SFII is pretty amazing, but I tried to be as objective as possible. Arcade intro with redbook. Character select screen is near perfect. Map is retained in prefight screens with full voices as expected. Color is very nice. Doesn't seem as rich as the SNES palette, but it is more authentic and is leagues better than the Sega CD version. Time of day changes between rounds. There is sadly no parallax due to the limitations of the PCE. Characters are large like the Sega CD version, but better animated. They also scale between planes which is a subtle, but necessary ingredient. Gameplay feels similar to the SNES, if a little closer to the Neo Geo original in terms of timing. Redbook music is fine, but sound effects are lacking much like in SFII, though nowhere near as bad as in the Sega CD version. There are also some instances where chip music is used due to prefight loading and the drums are ridiculous. Voices are very cool, and sound very close to the original. Loading seems a bit longer than the Sega CD, and it lacks loading screens (the onscreen image freezes. kind of makes you think its crashing, which can be unnerving).

All in all, the ACD version of Fatal Fury Special lived up to my expectations, and parallax & sound effects aside, it actually is the best version of the game outside the original. The SNES version is number two. The Sega CD version has the worst backgrounds and runs very slow, worse than the original Genesis version of Fatal Fury 2. I cannot recommend it for the price it goes for.

I will probably update this thread as I receive the others, as I already have the SNES and Genesis versions of each. I have already played an illegitimate copy of the ACD Art of Fighting and there is no contest with that one, but I don't have any more time to write this morning. I am pretty sure the ACD versions take the title for every game represented, but it is fun to examine their differences, strengths and weaknesses. I'm just a dork like that.

Here is the above in-fight screens side by side for comparison (SNES, Sega CD, PC Engine Arcade CD):

[klausien]

Art of Fighting is one of those games that has never really done anything for me. It is probably the worst of the SNK fighting franchises, but in its original context, it has some merit I guess. The incredibly large characters who incurred battle damage through the fight, as well as the extreme scaling effects were very cool in the heyday of the Neo Geo, but the control has never been a strength for the series. There is a rhythm to the fighting, but the feeling of delay in the controls has always been a sore spot for me. Don't even get me started about the near impossible super special moves!

I only remember one instance of playing the original on an MVS back in the day. Unfortunately, the joystick had seen better days, so my experience was limited. I did drop another quarter in due to the the graphical overload, but I never got a feel for the game until MAME. It still doesn't do much for me, playing like a much improved version of the original Street Fighter, but I admit that I am not the best critic of this series. I know what I know.




The SNES version of the game was actually my first real experience with the mechanics of the game. Playing now, it is something to be taken with a grain of salt, as there are far better games out there, even from its own time, that beg for priority over AOF. The game opens with a good representation of the Neo Geo intro, minus the voiceover, cool warping and scaling effects. Gets the job done. The select screen is not arcade exact as all of the other warriors are present to be unlocked as playable characters. Only Ryo & Robert are available from the outset. In game, the characters are rather large, though nowhere near the original size, and Ryo kicks his sandals off. Then the fighters jump back and the scaling is in effect. The scaling is best in the SNES version, and is a serviceable version of the source material. Actually, it feels smoother due to the fact that it isn't so extreme, which is actually a good thing in some ways. There is no visible battle damage on the characters unfortunately. The backgrounds lack detail, but it is a trade off for the scaling effect. The original lacked parallax anyway. It retains the character portraits by the life-bars, but they are in the wrong place. Sound is fair, with a decent approximation of the arcade tunes, quiet voices and passable impact effects. Control is also fair. Loose as expected. The biggest nit to pick with this game is the lack of Ryo on his motorcycle in between stages. It should have been in there.



On to the Genesis version. As anyone interest probably already knows, there is no scaling in this version. At the outset of fights, the enemy meets the player on the right side of the screen as opposed to centered. From there, Ryo or Robert leaps back to the left side to start the fight. There is now some parallax in the backgrounds, and the floors line scroll, but the game just plays differently when the scaling is not present. The characters are rather small, lack visible battle damage, and also lack intro animations. Instead of Ryo kicking off his shoes and Robert pulling on his glove, we get their taunts. There are no portraits by the life-bars. The intro is also much different, though it still contains the ice block break. Strangely, the intermissions retain the motorcycle bit, which is kind of nice. As mentioned before, without the scaling, the gameplay rhythm is much different, though control is serviceable. Sound is rather poor due to the limitations at work. Voices are typical Genesis. In general, the reason I even bother to play AOF is its "in your face" nature, and this game is lacking that big time. Not an entirely wasted effort, but not recommended either.




On to the Arcade Card version. The first thing that hits you about this one is the size of the characters. It is not perfect, but closer to the original. Also, they retain a bit more of their detail than on the SNES or Genesis, which is a welcome addition. Battle damage returns. The backgrounds are nothing special, but are true enough to the arcade, though this version is also missing the portraits by the life-bars. The intro contains the full voiceover, as do the intermissions and the like, but that is expected with a CD title. Music is the best of the three, as are the voices. Sound effects are better on the SNES. Loading times are the real trade-off here, but they are tolerable outside the painful initial load. Scaling is present, but the method used (resolution swapping) makes it incredibly jarring and not so pretty. (Unfortunately, this is also not perfectly emulated in Magic Engine, so I have no zoomed out screenshot here) Basically, the characters are zoomed in fullscreen, then the game replaces the entire playfield in a different, bordered resolution as they move apart. It is like a monitor refresh. The effect is a creative workaround, and works well enough, but the SNES game is, understandably, much better in this regard. The game plays fine for the most part, even with the jerky scaling effect, and is on par with the SNES version. This one isn't quite as impressive as Fatal Fury Special (which is understandable as I think it was released prior to FF Special), but it is still beyond crazy to see such an excellent version of a Neo Geo game like AOF on what is essentially and 8-bit system. It just shouldn't be possible.

The SNES game, even without accoutrements like the intro voiceovers and between fight cinemas, is the best bang for your buck. The ACD version, though second to the SNES in terms of the scaling effect, is probably the most faithful overall, though it is a bit cost prohibitive to get all the necessary hardware. One would probably be better served by getting an actual MVS and cart! The Genesis game is decent, but the worst of the three by far.

Art of Fighting probably should have stayed on the Neo Geo. It isn't a very good game to begin with, and neutering it for weaker hardware probably wasn't the greatest idea. Even so, both the PCE ACD and SNES versions manage to pull it off for the most part and were definitely a worthwhile journey. I just wish they had at least tried to implement the scaling effects in the Genesis version. Would have made this a much more interesting comparison.

Again, the side by side (SNES, Genesis, PC Engine Arcade CD):

[klausien]

On to World Heroes 2. Sadly, there was never a Genesis version of this one. I wonder if it was ever in development for either cart or CD? I would think it was.

As for the actual game, I have some nice memories of it from the arcades at the Jersey shore back in the age of SFII. It was a nice alternative with its simplified gameplay, impressive graphics and exaggerated character types. From the demonic football player Johnny Maximum to the crazy headhunter Mudman, they were all over the top and fantastic. My most vibrant remembrance is watching C. Kidd launch that incredibly slow moving, but huge ghost pirate ship at an enemy. Great stuff. On to the comparison:



The SNES version is another letterboxed affair. I remember renting the game back when it was released and being underwhelmed with the conversion in light of Capcom's finest. It just didn't bring the arcade home like some of the other great SNES ports of the time. As a result, I didn't end up picking it up until about 2 years ago. It was worth it for the few bucks I paid for it.

The game dispenses with the arcade intro right off the bat, dropping the player directly at the fairly accurate title screen (no sparkling on the logo). The select screen is more than reasonably replicated, with decent, though miniaturized character portraits. There is even the choice between the two game modes. The announcer is mostly absent. The world graphic pre-fight is innaccurate (see above). As the match starts, the fighters are simply facing each other doing their idle animations. The introductory sequences are gone. The color palette isn't quite right, making a vibrant game dark and dingy, almost Genesis-style. Backgrounds lack parallax, though they do retain some of their animated features. Floors line scroll. Sprites are on the small side, but the game is pretty fluid. Specials are toned way down effects-wise. Has the arcade tunes and, to its credit, the voice samples finally replicate that cool Neo Geo echo. An average port of an average game.



Now this is the power of the Arcade card! This (and Fatal Fury Special) makes me dream of how excellent SFII Turbo Hyper Fighting could have been as an ACD. The arcade intro is present and beautiful. Most of the static graphics such as the select screens are pretty much right on, including the announcer (as expected) There is again some chip music in there to speed up load times (which are the best of all the SNK fighter ports on the system), but the intro, battle and ending tunes are all redbook. The colors are brighter and more accurate than the SNES version. Sprites are just a hair smaller than in the Neo Geo original, but the WOW factor is back. The pre-match intro animations are present and there are more frames in general throughout play.

The biggest negative is the total lack of parallax, but it is running on a PC Engine, so it is to be expected. The floors actually line scroll though, which is a nice touch. Also, though the game feels like the original for the most part, it does feel like it's running with a slight frame skip. This issue, plus the fact that it is an inferior game, keeps World Heroes 2 from reaching the height of Fatal Fury Special.

(As a side note, World Heroes 2 sports the same blacked-out area behind the score and life-bar display that all PCE fighters seems to have, due the fact that it is a sprite as opposed to a background layer. It has never bothered me, and doesn't really kill the aesthetics, so it is rather irrelevant.)

There is a pretty clear winner here in the ACD version. It is just so satisfying that any frameskipping isn't much of a bother on the whole. Both ports are parallax deficient, so we have a draw there.

Side by side (SNES, PC Engine Arcade CD):



And some gratuitous intro shots from the ACD version (Hanzou looks like Richter Belmont):

[smokehouse]

Nice write-ups! I love seeing system comparisons. I just wish you had the Neo version to compare them to. I have a Neo but funny enough I don’t have those 3 games, only Garou: Mark of the Wolves, Real Bout Fatal Fury Special Art of Fighting 3. No World Heroes titles though…

[staxx]

I did not like the Sega CD of Fatal Fury Special done by JVC and not Takara. The game looks great when it is not moving. As soon as you move your characters and cast specials, the frame of animation of each character sucks. Wow 2 frames of animation it seems.... just terrible. I prefer Fatal Fury 2 on the cartridge over the Fatal Fury Special on Sega CD.

[Ed Oscuro]

All in all, the ACD version of Fatal Fury Special lived up to my expectations, and parallax & sound effects aside, it actually is the best version of the game outside the original.

Aside from x68000, that is...

The Sega CD version is also pretty great though, and is a relatively close second even though it has the worst backgrounds.

From where I'm standing, the Sega CD version's screen is much better looking overall; Terry looks squashed in the PCE version, and the purple background is pretty odd (is that a different time of day?) The rightmost-looking rock face also is a bit deeper ("wider" from our perspective) in the Sega CD version.

[Tron 2.0]

Nice comparison you did there.

I alll ways see ppl asking... what difference is far as those ports go.

That should clear it up now

[§ Gideon §]

Hey, you added pics. Cool.

[klausien]

The final piece of the puzzle: Fatal Fury 2. I remember that one magazine (which one, I cannot recall) was all over this game, saying it was "better than SFII" and "the next big thing." That is a bold statement. (I think Halvorson or Nick Rox had something to do with it). I was excited to get a look at it, but was not quite convinced when I eventually got the chance (again at the shore). As a sequel to Fatal Fury, it's phenomenal, but better than the best? I'm not convinced.

I have another anecdote regarding this game. Somehow, I managed to subscribe to a fanzine that was (I think) affiliated with Bandai back in the early '90's. I won an art contest (I drew a lame picture of Guile's Flash Kick intersecting Terry's Crack Shot) and was awarded with any game of my choice. I chose Fatal Fury 2 for SNES and never received it. Oh well, at least a bunch of people saw my picture.

Before continuing, I must state that playing through these and then revisiting Fatal Fury Special again, moved me to revise my original opinions of FF Special for the SNES. I was definitely too hard on it, but it was to be expected. I was all high on getting the Arcade Card and my opinions were influenced accordingly. The SNES port of FF Special is just Fatal Fury 2 with added characters and tweaked backgrounds like the Neo Geo version, so what I say regarding the original carries on to the update. I hope I don't conflict with myself too much.




The SNES version was another rental for me way back when, but I still wanted to buy it (unlike World Heroes 2). There is just so much more depth to Fatal Fury 2 that it warrants attention. On to the action. The first thing I noticed, outside the fact that it is again letterboxed, was that the game goes directly to the title screen after the Takara splash. No intro. Moving to the select screen, it is immediately apparent that it is just wrong. Not that it's bad, but it is nothing like the original. The pre-match screen is relatively similar to the original, but lacks voiceovers and, like the other SNES ports, the font is all wrong. Once into the fight, things are quite similar to what I have already said about Special. The characters could be larger and a bit more animated, while backgrounds are quite pretty and have some nice parallax. One discrepancy with the actual game in play is the lack of character portraits by the life-bars, but again, no big deal. Control is fair, benefitting profusely from a joystick or anything other than the standard SNES pad. Looking back, even SFII is less of an experience with the SNES pad, so I was a bit off base in my FF Special comparison. It is by far the easiest of the three ports as one might suspect on a Nintendo system. The game speed is accurate, though the sprite size makes it feel a bit different. Music is typical SNES audio versions of the Neo Geo tunes, with decent, though quiet, voice samples. Overall, the SNES game is a good approximation of the Neo Geo original, but it is really lacking the little details and bits of flair (such as the intro) of the source material.




I never played the Genesis port in the game's heyday. I didn't personally have the system, and the friend who did wasn't into the SNK stuff. I do recall that reviewers were hard on the game, but upon firing up my X'Eye I could do nothing but wonder why? Of course, said reviews I am referencing were written during the time when issues like the blacked out area behind the life-bars could be a major point of contention. Looking at the game through 2006 glasses, it is a great port of Fatal Fury 2, and though it lacks the color depth of the other versions, it plays very well and has some interesting differences.

First off, it lacks the arcade intro, but has a very cool black & white intro that is unique to this version, and could very well be better than the original. Upon pressing start, we are again shepherded to a select screen that, although not horrible, is not true to the original. Actually, the select screen is the least appealing part of this particular version. Not only does it look worse than even the SNES version, with its spartan "King of Fighters" on a black background, the order of the fighters in the grid seems off. Mai should not be under Terry, but I digress. The pre-match globe looks better than the SNES, but the fonts are wrong and all one color. When the match begins, it is obvious that the Genesis version has the least amount of detail in the graphics, missing background objects and looking dithered as usual, but it is fullscreen (blackened area containing the life-bars notwithstanding), plays incredibly well and the characters are nice and big. Actually, this version plays quite a bit better than the Sega CD version of FF Special, and is about on par with the SNES version, though it also benefits from a better default controller (the Genesis 6-button is, and always has been, phenomenal). The time of day actually changes between rounds in this version as well, unlike the on the Sega CD. The sound, with the exception of the distorted, low quality voices is pretty good, especially for those who love the Genesis sound chip. Much better than I had originally anticipated.




I believe Fatal Fury 2 and Art of Fighting were the first Arcade Card games, though I might be wrong. Fatal Fury 2 was definitely a nice taste of what was to come, despite its flaws. It opens with the arcade intro and pressing run reveals the row of fighters select screen. Excellent. Music is chip at this point, but it is with all of the ports. The pre-battle screen is voiced and correct. The first three things one notices upon beginning a bout is how great the music is, how large the fighters are and, sadly, the lack of parallax. When you step off the line, it becomes apparent that this port runs noticeably slower than the Neo Geo version. It is not terrible, but it is definitely a black mark. It almost feels a bit choppy (I need to reiterate that for the purpose of playtesting, the games were all played on the original hardware) I am being a bit critical though, since the game is so colorful and looks almost as good as the original. The presentation is close enough to the real thing that it is easy to forgive any weaknesses. The sound effects are mediocre like the other SNK fighters on the system, but the voices are nice. The Avenue Pad 6 is almost as bad as a SNES controller, but the game controls well enough and supers are easy to pull off. On the flip side, it is the hardest port of the three. FF Special is King, but this is a great port.

So this one is a bit closer than with the others. All three offer a quality facsimile of Fatal Fury 2. The ACD version has the nicest characters, music (except for the pre-fight chip tunes) and presentation, the SNES has the best backgrounds, full of parallax and color (and it has the superimposed life-bars), and the Genesis plays the best and even has a speed select (though I haven't given them all the proper joystick treatment due to the fact that I am limited in that area). You can't go wrong with any of them. I daresay, its a tie.

The side by side (SNES, Genesis, PC Engine Arcade CD):



And a gratuitous run through of the Genesis intro:

[klausien]

The final piece of the puzzle: Fatal Fury 2. I remember that one magazine (which one, I cannot recall) was all over this game, saying it was "better than SFII" and "the next big thing." That is a bold statement. (I think Halvorson or Nick Rox had something to do with it). I was excited to get a look at it, but was not quite convinced when I eventually got the chance (again at the shore). As a sequel to Fatal Fury, it's phenomenal, but better than the best? I'm not convinced.

I have another anecdote regarding this game. Somehow, I managed to subscribe to a fanzine that was (I think) affiliated with Bandai back in the early '90's. I won an art contest (I drew a lame picture of Guile's Flash Kick intersecting Terry's Crack Shot) and was awarded with any game of my choice. I chose Fatal Fury 2 for SNES and never received it. Oh well, at least a bunch of people saw my picture.

Before continuing, I must state that playing through these and then revisiting Fatal Fury Special again, moved me to revise my original opinions of FF Special for the SNES. I was definitely too hard on it, but it was to be expected. I was all high on getting the Arcade Card and my opinions were influenced accordingly. The SNES port of FF Special is just Fatal Fury 2 with added characters and tweaked backgrounds like the Neo Geo version, so what I say regarding the original carries on to the update. I hope I don't conflict with myself too much.




The SNES version was another rental for me way back when, but I still wanted to buy it (unlike World Heroes 2). There is just so much more depth to Fatal Fury 2 that it warrants attention. On to the action. The first thing I noticed, outside the fact that it is again letterboxed, was that the game goes directly to the title screen after the Takara splash. No intro. Moving to the select screen, it is immediately apparent that it is just wrong. Not that it's bad, but it is nothing like the original. The pre-match screen is relatively similar to the original, but lacks voiceovers and, like the other SNES ports, the font is all wrong. Once into the fight, things are quite similar to what I have already said about Special. The characters could be larger and a bit more animated, while backgrounds are quite pretty and have some nice parallax. One discrepancy with the actual game in play is the lack of character portraits by the life-bars, but again, no big deal. Control is fair, benefitting profusely from a joystick or anything other than the standard SNES pad. Looking back, even SFII is less of an experience with the SNES pad, so I was a bit off base in my FF Special comparison. It is by far the easiest of the three ports as one might suspect on a Nintendo system. The game speed is accurate, though the sprite size makes it feel a bit different. Music is typical SNES audio versions of the Neo Geo tunes, with decent, though quiet, voice samples. Overall, the SNES game is a good approximation of the Neo Geo original, but it is really lacking the little details and bits of flair (such as the intro) of the source material.




I never played the Genesis port in the game's heyday. I didn't personally have the system, and the friend who did wasn't into the SNK stuff. I do recall that reviewers were hard on the game, but upon firing up my X'Eye I could do nothing but wonder why? Of course, said reviews I am referencing were written during the time when issues like the blacked out area behind the life-bars could be a major point of contention. Looking at the game through 2006 glasses, it is a great port of Fatal Fury 2, and though it lacks the color depth of the other versions, it plays very well and has some interesting differences.

First off, it lacks the arcade intro, but has a very cool black & white intro that is unique to this version, and could very well be better than the original. Upon pressing start, we are again shepherded to a select screen that, although not horrible, is not true to the original. Actually, the select screen is the least appealing part of this particular version. Not only does it look worse than even the SNES version, with its spartan "King of Fighters" on a black background, the order of the fighters in the grid seems off. Mai should not be under Terry, but I digress. The pre-match globe looks better than the SNES, but the fonts are wrong and all one color. When the match begins, it is obvious that the Genesis version has the least amount of detail in the graphics, missing background objects and looking dithered as usual, but it is fullscreen (blackened area containing the life-bars notwithstanding), plays incredibly well and the characters are nice and big. Actually, this version plays quite a bit better than the Sega CD version of FF Special, and is about on par with the SNES version, though it also benefits from a better default controller (the Genesis 6-button is, and always has been, phenomenal). The time of day actually changes between rounds in this version as well, unlike the on the Sega CD. The sound, with the exception of the distorted, low quality voices is pretty good, especially for those who love the Genesis sound chip. Much better than I had originally anticipated.




I believe Fatal Fury 2 and Art of Fighting were the first Arcade Card games, though I might be wrong. Fatal Fury 2 was definitely a nice taste of what was to come, despite its flaws. It opens with the arcade intro and pressing run reveals the row of fighters select screen. Excellent. Music is chip at this point, but it is with all of the ports. The pre-battle screen is voiced and correct. The first three things one notices upon beginning a bout is how great the music is, how large the fighters are and, sadly, the lack of parallax. When you step off the line, it becomes apparent that this port runs noticeably slower than the Neo Geo version. It is not terrible, but it is definitely a black mark. It almost feels a bit choppy (I need to reiterate that for the purpose of playtesting, the games were all played on the original hardware) I am being a bit critical though, since the game is so colorful and looks almost as good as the original. The presentation is close enough to the real thing that it is easy to forgive any weaknesses. The sound effects are mediocre like the other SNK fighters on the system, but the voices are nice. The Avenue Pad 6 is almost as bad as a SNES controller, but the game controls well enough and supers are easy to pull off. On the flip side, it is the hardest port of the three. FF Special is King, but this is a great port.

So this one is a bit closer than with the others. All three offer a quality facsimile of Fatal Fury 2. The ACD version has the nicest characters, music (except for the pre-fight chip tunes) and presentation, the SNES has the best backgrounds, full of parallax and color (and it has the superimposed life-bars), and the Genesis plays the best and even has a speed select (though I haven't given them all the proper joystick treatment due to the fact that I am limited in that area). You can't go wrong with any of them. I daresay, its a tie.

The side by side (SNES, Genesis, PC Engine Arcade CD):



And a gratuitous run through of the Genesis intro:

[klausien]

Terry looks squashed in the PCE version, and the purple background is pretty odd (is that a different time of day?)

I took a new screenshot with the matching time of day. My bad.

[klausien]

Terry looks squashed in the PCE version, and the purple background is pretty odd (is that a different time of day?)

I took a new screenshot with the matching time of day. My bad.