Port VS Port: Which Port of a Game Was the Best? (Includes Remakes)

Perfect Dark (N64) vs Perfect Dark* (XBox 360 XBLA)

Other than graphically, there aren't too many changes to the game. The XBox 360 version of course has much higher quality, sharper textures, and looks beautiful (well, as much as a decade old game that's been repainted can!), though some people say some of the altered graphics aren't true to the original.

The 360 version allows you to use the Goldeneye weapons in multiplayer, which you can't do on the N64 version (unless you play it on an emulator, or via a backup cartridge, or with a cheat device, but with just an N64 and the Perfect Dark cartridge, you can't use the Goldeneye weapons in multiplayer), has achievement points (the XBox 360's equivalent to the PS3's trophy system, of course), and of course lets you play against people online. Also, the XBox 360 has none of the low frame-rates that the N64 version has. Other than that, the only differences are a few minor changes to weapons, and a couple of bugs introduced into the 360 version by the programmers. Sadly, the original version of the XBox release had some serious bugs and control problems, which were patched after a week or too, but by then a lot of players had lost interest, and as a result it's not easy to find many people to play against nowadays. A real pit, as Perfect Dark is an all time classic game.

As to which is the best version, take your pick. Lots of people would say the XBox 360 version, since it has a fast, constant frame-rate, better graphics, and allows you to play against people online. Others (like me) prefer the N64 version for various reasons (I don't like the change to the explosion times or the Combat Boost, I think some of the XBox 360 graphics don't suit the game, and I'm used to the low frame-rate of many N64 games, so I don't see a problem on the N64 version (though I can sympathise with people who do). But whichever version you play, it's still a fantastic game, and to me it's still the best first person shooter ever made, in single player and multiplayer.


* Not Perfect Dark Zero, which is a different game, a prequel to Perfect Dark, and *nowhere* near as good. PDZ is not even a good game when compared to many first person shooters, let alone to the greatness of PD.

 

PCE games were always better than their NES counterparts (Parodius...), however, the SNES/MD games are a different story, and Street Fighter II is a very close call.

 

(note: I'm only going off of versions of games I've played)
-Ocarina of Time: 3DS; the smoother framerate, higher-quality textures and models, and turning Boots into items in lieu of equipment makes this the ultimate version of Ocarina of Time (as of now, anyway).
-Street Fighter II Turbo: SNES, due to higher quality graphics and sound (although I won't complain if I gotta play the Genesis' Special Champion Edition; in terms of gameplay, both versions seem to have hit the nail on the head).
-Super SF II: New Challengers: Genesis; despite boasting slightly lesser quality graphics and sound, all the sound effects do make the transition to the Genesis edition (unlike the SNES version).
-Fatal Fury: Genesis, hands down; the Genny version scrapped Hwa Jai and Billy Kane, but it retained the two-layer fighting of the original, and both players could play as the enemy fighters in Versus mode (unlike the SNES version, which confusingly uses FF2 inputs for the main three fighters yet botches the controls massively, drops the two-plane mechanic, and in Versus mode only P2 could use the enemy fighters).
-Fatal Fury 2: SNES; I fucking despise the "black-bar" bullshit seen in the Gen. version's HUD, plus the graphics took a considerable hit in quality (but otherwise the Gen. version plays decently, I guess). Maybe part of my affinity for the SNES version is what a massive improvement it was in terms of port quality over the SNES port of the first title.
-Fatal Fury Special: SNES USA version; all the versions of the SNES port were kinda trashy aside from gameplay, but the USA version is the best of a bad bunch, as the Japanese version has crappier character animation, and the European version has said crap animation plus drops four fucking characters.
-Fatal Fury 3: Windows, because it has the NeoGeo CD's music and full animation intact but not the bullshit loading times of the NGCD/Saturn versions.
-Samurai Shodown*: Genesis; this was a tough transition and none of the "mainstream" ports quite got this game right, but the Gen. version seems to feel the closest, as the minimized SNES version's graphics are a hindrance that totally change the way the game is played (the SNES version was the only "main" console port to keep Earthquake... yay?).
-Art of Fighting: Genesis; the zoom-out aspect of the original version is gone, but the SNES version fucks it up anyway; the Gen. version also seems to be more faithful to the original difficulty, plus doesn't have the black-bar HUD of the SNES port (seriously, how was that a problem on the goddamn SNES?) ...but it's kinda a shame, since the SNES has the expanded ending.

*Wasn't it the Sega CD version of Samurai Shodown that would crap out and not let you fight Amakusa, or at least something to that effect?

 

I don't know if this will count but I'll vote Sonic the Hedgehog (Genesis) over Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis (GBA) any day. In fact, I think anyone would. If anyone has not seen the atrocious gameplay of this port (remake?), here is a review for your viewing pain:



Good luck.

If I want portable Sonic the Hedgehog, I'll pop the cart into a Sega Nomad.

It almost strikes me as a version of the original that was ported badly to the Super Nintendo, I mean there is a lot of frame rate drops in this GBA version, yeah, you collect a lot of rings in the Genesis version and get hurt and it slows it down, but not like this. Plus that god-awful music...

 

It's unfortunate that the GBA suffered from some really bad ports and other low quality games. Clearly the GBA had some power when put in the right hands - I think it had similar capabilities to the 32X, but with a better sound chip. I think a lot of devs were just really lazy.

 

lol, I'm not talking NES here. PCE is no NES rival since it did most ports better than the MD/Genny and SFC/SNES, including all Neo Geo ports which were ported to the three.

 

Best AES to console ports of..

FF2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEZHP29oY6E

FF special:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybYfC8aq_9M

AoF:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvRVhtetvQs

 

I've decided to add PAL vs NTSC to the list, since it turns out that they sometimes make changes to a game when converting it to a different region (the PAL port of Metroid Prime really got a lot of polish added to it when it was ported, which is unusual since Nintendo's attitude towards PAL regions is usually "fuck those guys")

Also, does anyone know how the PC and PS2 versions of Oni stack up? Promo artwork I've seen seem to imply it was developed for the PS2 and ported over to PC, but Wikipedia seems to indicate Bungie originally developed it for PC and Mac and it was ported to PS2 by some other guys.

Do you know how the PS2 re-port stacks up to the Xbox port? I'd be interested in not only correcting my OP, but also which would be the best version of Silent Hill 2 for me to buy

Wouldn't the Neo Geo version of the Fatal Fury, Samurai Shodown and Art of Fighting games be the best version, since they're identical to the arcade version?

Hmmm, I guess we're looking for "out-of-the-box" here and it sounds like to make the PC great, you have to mess around with it. I mean, you can mod Final Fantasy VII to make it great, but the vanilla port is pretty crap.

 

What about the PS3 remake ?

 

that's not a port. as you say it by yourself, it's the same hardware :idea:

 

Makes me curious how many of us were confused. US PS2 version uses the original title.

You're underestimating NEC America's incompetence...

 

fixed

 

Earthworm Jim was the best on the pc

 

Didn't include it, since the universal opinion seemed to be that it was crap

 

lol pce/tg16. you think im rich!?

 

what's that supposed to mean?

 

Fallout 3 and Fallout New Vegas come to mind, the PS3 and Xbox 360 both have frame rate issues and after playing for around 20 hours the game will keep crashing trying to remember all your item locations, storyline choices and people you killed.
However the PC version runs smoothly even on a low end gaming PC without and framerate issues or crashing.

 

For Fatal Fury the Answer is PS2.