What's yours? Mine's Mortal Kombat II on the snes, and Doom on the same console and the PSX. Sure, Doom on the snes looked worse than the original PC version but it had a bitching soundtrack (just like on the PSX). As for Mortal Kombat II, it played just great and the music was more gloomy than on other consoles.
Commando on the C64. The music is much, much better than the Arcade original, even with the same melody. It has a different beat to it, and it's quite cool. Contra is better on NES than it is on Arcade, obviously. And most C64 arcade ports were awesome. Mr. Do's Castle WAS my early childhood.
I'm actually pretty fond of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom on the NES. Like with Commando and Ikari Warriors II, they opted for an expanded game rather than a cut-down port of the arcade game. In particular, the mine levels allowed you to jump out of the cart and scroll the screen in all four directions as you interacted with the machinery in interesting ways. Console ports were on my mind yesterday as I was playing some 2D fighting games. I think there's something lost to the world now that home game systems aren't continuously chasing the standard set by arcade hardware. But that's a discussion we've had enough of around here already.
Final Fight CD for the Mega CD, specifically the Japanese version. Nearly identical to the CPS original and the only way to play at home properly for a very long time. All of the Naomi to Dreamcast ports: Marvel vs Capcom 2, Under Defeat, Capcom vs SNKs, Power Stones etc.
There are many great ports but like _SD_ I'd go with the Japanese Mega CD version of Final Fight. Back in a time when arcade perfect ports just didn't happen this was the closest thing to the original but it went further than that by giving us an arse kicking soundtrack and an all new voiced introduction with improved ending. Sega really did an amazing job with that Capcom port. In fact, back in the 16 bit days Sega did many amazing Capcom ports - Strider, Ghouls'n Ghosts - ChikiChiki Boys - Mercs - Street Fighter 2 Championship Edit - Super Street Fighter 2 and so on. Where has that Sega gone now? Yakumo
Always preferred SNES Turtles in Time to the arcade version. I refuse to dignify the 3D remake with a comparison. Commando on C64 was great, even though it got repetitive pretty quickly...but then again, so did every other C64 game.
Agreed. The SFC version is very good. The 3D remake actually plays really well. Honestly, it does. When I play I use the original SFC soundtrack over the remake soundtrack since that's bollocks. Once you've got the original music along with the game it just seems right. Sure, it's missing 2 levels and a few characters are missing due to license issues (Rat king and Bebop & Rock Steady) but it really does play well. Yakumo
ESPGaluda for PS2 is ace. Best port ever... not only from a technological point of view but also in terms of content. It probably features the best arrange mode of all time, it would have been easily capable to do well as a stand-alone arcade game. I'd even go as far as saying it would have been a better successor to ESP Ra. De. than the actual ESPGaluda.
Most Dreamcast games were AWESOME arcade ports. I love CAPCOM vs SNK 2, Last Blade 2, Ikaruga, Gunbird 2 and Guilty Gear X. Pretty much all shooters and fighters. I'm also rather fond of KOF2002 UM on XBLA
Oh, how could I forget Ikaruga? The game that got me into shooters, arcade and collecting... well, Ikaruga for Dreamcast is a brilliant and truly (99%) arcade-perfect port. The prototype mode makes it twice the fun and adds some depth at many places throughout the game. You can play it exactly like the regular Ikaruga, but it also opens many doors to do things differently. Another great arcade port is Batsugun for the Sega Saturn. I'm not sure about the slowdown accuracy because I never played the actual PCB, but there's hardly any slowdown in the Saturn version. It also features the Special Version of the game which is really the one to go and wasn't available in game centers of the time if I'm correctly informed. I think the Batsugun with modified EPROMs for Special Ver. got into circulation much later, after 2000 - or am I totally wrong here?
Purists bitch about the LACK of slowdown in Batsugun. Personally its in my top 5 2D shooters of all time. Specifically Special Version.
I don't think we should include Naomi to dreamcast ports since naomi is basically a Dreamcast anyway. The Same with STV to Saturn ports. Yakumo
How close are System 11 and PSX hardware then, for purposes of talking about ports? My impression was always that the arcade board was only different in terms of RAM. It might be interesting to look at how PS2 and Dreamcast ports of original Neo Geo games exceeded the originals long after the fact.
The Saturn port of Virtua Fighter 2 is pretty good. Obviously not arcade-perfect (it completely lacks the 3D backgrounds), but still really good considering the original was on Model 2 hardware. I'm sure there are more, but that's all that comes to mind at the moment.
Ooh. PSX Doom. I just absolutely loved this when it came out Duke Nukem 64, Even though it had no soundtrack it had some awesome multiplayer. I still have memories of going to my neighbors house and shrinking the shit out of everyone when we'd play. Duke Nukem Total Meltdown, good port with awesome music Mortal Kombat 4 PSX Aero Fighters/Sonic Wings for the SNES/SFC Gauntlet Legends and Dark Legacy, these games were the shit! Shenmue II for Xbox, for shenmue movie and all the good times I had with it even though parts of it made me RAGE hard. That's all I can think of right now
The Saturn port of Virtua Fighter 2 is indeed a masterpiece. It wasn't arcade perfect, but with people doubting the Saturn after the lackluster port of the original Virtua Fighter and the arrival of the Playstation, it was the perfect response from Sega - the game running at a mighty 720x480 resolution (higher than the arcade version) at 60fps. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ic4jHJEDL1I On the subject of Saturn, Capcom's 2D fighter ports that used the 4MB RAM cart, such as Xmen Vs. Street Fighter, Marvel Vs. Street Fighter, Vampire Saviour, Street Fighter Zero 3, were all basically arcade perfect. Not quite as technically impressive as the Virtua Fighter 2 port, but in the context of seeing thse games getting butchered on the Playstation, they were something to behold. Marvel Vs. Street Fighter - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCxIrSqqA7E
Super Street Fighter II Turbo on the 3DO! Arcade perfect if you ask me, which in that period was an amazing thing.
