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Not a dithering effect, but bringing colors so close together that the blurriness of a CRT would merge them together.
You can see some examples here:
http://www.bogost.com/games/a_televi...imulator.shtml
Not to mention the other effects mentioned that are lost by a sharper TV image.
So... grab a perfectly fine looking picture, blur it, and add noise. This improves the picture how? There isn't even any colour blending happening on those images, it's just blur+noise. Only thing that was minor improved were the car wheels, and they would have been better off programmed properly like other racers on the system that didn't rely on such a cheap trick.
EDIT: Another example, modern Atari 800 demos love to rely on pal blending (which actually looks better in emulation than on a real TV), not only is it PAL only, you basically get these monstrous scan lines in exchange for more colours. I think it looks like crap.
http://atariage.com/forums/uploads/m...1349088289.png
*permanent eye damage*
The late 1980s/early 1990s were an awkward time for this discussion; older consoles and platforms outright depended on NTSC artifacting (Tandy CoCo), or had graphics that at least looked more textured because of color-clock artifacts and the like (Intellivision). OTOH some SMS games get absolutely trashed over RF, with colors that are wildly incorrect and garish.
Anyway, great contributions from Barone! I'm trying to decide what comparison to do next, but I'm angling towards No Escape, Super Battleship, or WarpSpeed. Three of the most incredibly popular titles on both platforms, of course. :D
PGA Tour Golf
Case: C
Genre: Sports
Verdict: Genesis
Genesis Pros: Sharper visuals.
Genesis Cons: Lower framerates in the hole-flyover animations.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAW6Eu0dU00
SNES Pros: Higher framerates in the hole-flyover animations.
SNES Cons: Muddier visuals.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzyFOngRm9M
In terms of gameplay mechanics, both versions are, in essence, identical, and in that respect, case 'A' could apply here. Nevertheless, I've chosen case 'C' for this comparison because there are obvious graphical differences between the two versions, with the most noticeable difference being that the Genesis version does its course renderings in 2D polygons, while the SNES version employs Mode 7 manipulations of bitmapped layers.
The most significant gameplay difference that I can identify between the two versions is the differing way in which they render the topography of the green on the putting grid screen. In the Genesis version, the topography of the green between the hole and the ball is scaled to fit onto a single screen of fixed dimensions. In the SNES version, each unit of distance on the putting grid remains discrete, and the putting grid scrolls to accommodate putts that exceed a certain threshold in length. In addition, the ball's elevation above or below the hole is displayed only on the putting grid screen in the Genesis version. The SNES version displays this information on the main game screen as well.
There are additional divergences in the game interfaces and in the details of the overall presentations, but these differences are insubstantial. The SNES version also offers a feature called "Ball Cam", a camera perspective that follows directly behind the ball in flight. However, the perspective looks lousy and it should be immediately disabled. Consequently, it does not amount to any sort of feature advantage for the SNES.
Both versions offer four courses, but I believe the course line-ups are slightly different, with each version offering at least one course that the other does not.
Sound effects are equivalent. The music is not spectacular in either version, but the Genesis version does sound better to my ear.
Final Verdict: I prefer the Genesis version on account of its sharper visuals and scaled putting grids.
^Awesome, I'm really pleased that your golf acumen will be part of this effort! :D Adding a link to the first post now.
Just thought I'd point out the comparison of Zombies ate my Neighbors is flawed. They make a mention of the screen being bigger on SNES and the HUD on Genesis being there because Genesis has no transparency. First, the person who did that stretched the SNES screen for some reason, and left the Genesis screen alone. In reality, the SNES and Genesis gameplay screens are exactly the same size, and the HUD is there on the Genesis because it has a bigger resolution, so they put the health bars and map there to get it out of the gameplay area (on SNES, you press a button to bring the map up and hide it).
Aside from that though, it is a pretty good comparison.
*Snip*
Yeah, I've mailed him about this before. Didn't reply...Quote:
Originally Posted by Raijin
PGA Tour III vs. PGA Tour 96
Case: B
Genre: Sports
Verdict: Genesis version is vastly superior
Please note that PGA Tour 96 on the SNES is a port of PGA Tour III on the Genesis, and it's those two games that are being compared here. Despite the fact that they share the same name, the Genesis and SNES versions of PGA Tour 96 are entirely different games. The Genesis version of PGA Tour 96 has no true SNES homologue.
Genesis Version (PGA Tour III)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YY_fI9Tu_7Y
SNES Version (PGA Tour 96)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5WJZeoatKQ
SNES Cons:
1. No reverse-angle views of the ball in flight.
2. No hole flyover previews.
3. No pro-player comments.
4. Nearly all the music has been cut from the game.
5. Agonizingly slow.
SNES Pros:
None.
The camera is positioned slightly different in the two games. In PGA Tour '96, the camera is placed higher, further back, and with the golfer centered in the field of view. In PGA Tour III, the camera is lower, closer in, and with the golfer positioned slightly off-center to the left.
Final Verdict
PGA Tour 96 retains the core gameplay of PGA Tour III, but so many of the features that make PGA Tour III such a great game are missing from the SNES port. Even if PGA Tour 96 was a feature-perfect port, the agonizingly slow pace of play, alone, does more than enough to ruin the experience and give this one to the Genesis in a runaway.
It's interesting to note that PGA Tour 96 is one of the SNES games that makes use of an enhancement chip. In this case, a Super Accelerator 1 (SA-1) coprocessor clocked at 10MHz. However, one has to wonder whether it was ever actually soldered into the bus because, clearly, there is nothing being "accelerated" in PGA Tour 96. Jokes aside, I assume that the PGA Tour 96 ROM contains the PGA Tour III graphics data in the Genesis' native packed-pixel format, and the SA-1 chip is being used to convert that graphics data, on-the-fly, to the SNES's planar format.
I'm with Kamahl. This picture looks awful.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kamahl
^Updated the first post with links to Night Driver's comparisons.
goldenband, I went ahead and cut the PGA Tour 96 comparison. With a little editing to the PGA Tour III comparison, it became redundant. It was also more confusing than it was helpful in explaining the relationship between those three games. I was somewhat distracted when I was trying to write those entries yesterday and I just didn't do a good job of editing them in situ.
Understood -- I'll edit the first post accordingly. BTW how many more golf games were on both platforms? On the tennis front, I believe there are two.
Looks like these three: Pebble Beach Golf Links, Jack Nicklaus, and PGA European Tour. There are a couple more if you count JP and EU releases.Quote:
Originally Posted by goldenband
I've updated the Mickey Mania comparison with more info regarding some other details I realized that were missing from the SNES version.
Awesome info in these golf games comparisons; keep'em coming, Night Driver! :rock:
Thanks! I will.
At some point this year I think I'll do Hit the Ice, which I beat last year on the Genesis and enjoyed. I recently picked up the SNES version, fired it up for the first time today, and was shocked by the poor animation and flicker. I'll try to keep an open mind when I sit down to give it a real playthrough, but...
SUPERior NES
Any interest in including a comparison of the PC-Engine port?Quote:
Originally Posted by goldenband
There is also a TurboGrafx-16 version. I haven't spent much time with any version, but from what I have seen, the Genesis game looked best.Quote:
Originally Posted by goldenband
I think the PCE version has the edge in some aspects. IIRC it has less or no slowdown when compared to the Genesis; there's also some details which are missing on the Genesis version and that you can find on the PCE.
IIRC the PCE port was handled by Taito themselves, so that should result in a more faithful port overall (the Genesis game uses a 4 Mbit cart against a 2Mbit Hucard if I'm not mistaken, but most of that was used in voice samples I think).
And, yes, I'd also like to see the PCE version included in the comparison.
Hmm, it sounds like maybe I'm not the right candidate to do this one, then. :) I don't mean that in a bad way, mind; just that (a) I don't have a TG-16/PC Engine, and (b) it sounds like a couple of you know this game better than I do.
No, no. I know shit about it, seriously.
Go for the comparison without the PCE version then.
Sorry to bump a day-old topic. Has anyone compared the MD and SNES ports of Mortal Kombat yet? If not, great, since I'm working on a comparison and I'd be happy to submit it here.
It appears nobody has compared MK yet, so here goes my attempt. Let me know what you think.
Mortal Kombat
Case C
MD version (Probe Software, 1993, 16Mbits):
Attachment 8749
Attachment 8752
Attachment 8754
Pros:
-Blood and uncensored Fatalities are present with a code (enter ABACABB when you see screen number 2).
-Music is arguably better.
-Attract mode and ending are more arcade-accurate.
-Controls are much more responsive and more faithful to the arcade original.
-Higher resolution. It doesn't make much of a difference, but it is nice to have an extra 64 pixels horizontally.
Cons:
-Animation is choppy.
-Color counts are much lower than the SNES version.
-Sound effects are poor.
SNES version (Sculptured Software, 1993, 16Mbits):
Attachment 8755
Attachment 8756
Pros:
-Graphics are more detailed and colorful.
-Sound effects are better.
-Animation is smoother.
Cons:
-There's no blood. The Fatalities have also been edited due to Nintendo of America's censorship code.
-Music is much poorer quality.
-Attract mode and ending have been edited (instead of showing screenshots or unique animations like the Genesis/arcade, it just re-uses the game sprites).
-Controls are HORRIBLE. They are sluggish and unresponsive.
-Hit detection is questionable.
-Way more difficult, in a bad way.
-Lower resolution.
Verdict: MD. Overall, it's a better representation of the original arcade game, and it's more fun.
Welcome aboard! Looks pretty good to me, and I've linked it in the first post.
I'd have to replay the SNES version to refresh my memory of the music and difficulty level, but otherwise what you've written matches my recollections of the game.
BTW no worries about bumping a day-old topic; I regularly bump topics from last decade (!).
I'm not sure about the SNES versions controls being bad or even inferior to the Genesis game. I have never tried to master every character's moves, but for the ninjas, Cage, and Kang I found both games equally playable. The SNES game obviously doesn't have all of the same fatalities, but aside from that I can't think of anything wrong with the gameplay. The Genesis game is also missing character animations across the board that the Sega CD game added back in, I do not remember which ones though. The SNES game is, if I recall, less animated overall though. On the audio front, I thought the Genesis game was missing some voice samples in addition to the generally inferior everything else as well.
With the SNES version, every time you do a move on the controller, it takes place on screen about half a second later. Special moves (especially Sub-Zero's freeze) take about half a dozen tries to get them to work. Now, my experiences are from playing it on an SNES. On an emulator it's probably different, but I've never played it on an emulator.
As far as animations are concerned, the SNES has more. On the Courtyard stage, there are spectators in the background. In both versions, they move from side to side, but only in the SNES game do they clap at the end of the round. Similarly, the MD game lacks animation for Shang Tsung who sits in the Throne Room stage. In the MD game he stays still but in the SNES game he watches the fighters and claps at the end of the round. The Mega-CD adds Shang Tsung's animations back in, as well as adding more animations for the characters.
The MD game is missing many voice clips. Going through the voices that aren't just grunts and screams, it appears the MD game has just "Fight!", "Excellent", "Get Over Here", and "Finish Him." The Mega-CD adds all the original arcade voices back.
The SNES has all the samples except "Get Over Here", "Flawless Victory", and "Fatality", of course. Most of the voices that did make the cut sound like they were sped up.
In the Mega Drive/Genesis version they also used the same character animation for Scorpion and Sub-Zero, just different colors (when idle: arm behind his head in the air instead of 'waving' in front of his chest).
Mega CD/Sega CD version has the correct animation.
^You are correct. I forgot to mention that.
WarpSpeed
Case: C (some differences in graphics, gameplay or level structure)
Genre: Space flight simulator/shooter
Verdict: No clear victory for either platform, but most people are likely to prefer the SNES version
SNES screenshots:
http://www.sega-16.com/forum/attachm...4&d=1394659418 http://www.sega-16.com/forum/attachm...5&d=1394659876 http://www.sega-16.com/forum/attachm...6&d=1394659948
http://www.sega-16.com/forum/attachm...7&d=1394659967 http://www.sega-16.com/forum/attachm...8&d=1394659987
Genesis screenshots:
http://www.sega-16.com/forum/attachm...6&d=1394677402 http://www.sega-16.com/forum/attachm...7&d=1394677391 http://www.sega-16.com/forum/attachm...8&d=1394677372
http://www.sega-16.com/forum/attachm...5&d=1394677422 http://www.sega-16.com/forum/attachm...4&d=1394677434
Pros and cons:
Graphics:
The most obvious difference is that the Genesis version uses an in-cockpit perspective, whereas the SNES version uses an external view with crosshairs and a HUD. This makes surprisingly little difference in practice.
The two ports use the same or similar assets for some things, but not all. The SNES has its typical advantages in the color count department, and uses Mode 7 scaling and rotation effects for enemy ships and for certain sequences (e.g. departing from or docking with a space station).
This is somewhat effective; enemy ships do look significantly brighter and cleaner on the SNES, and zoom far closer than in the Genesis version. However, the scaling tends to be oddly jerky and non-linear, and enemy vessels will go from very tiny to very large almost instantly. To put it simply, it often just looks wrong! And the Mode 7 effect used when docking at a space station is just gimmicky and ugly; I much prefer the simpler animation on the Genesis.
In the SNES version, I encountered significant slowdown and dropped frames when more than one or two enemies were onscreen, especially if I'd fired a lot of shots. I don't remember having this happen on the Genesis.
Music:
The SNES music is rather poor. It's muffled, uninspired, and basically epitomizes phoned-in mediocrity.
The compositions used in the Genesis version are similar to the SNES's tunes but not exactly the same. These plinky, monotimbral ditties resemble nothing so much as fake bossa nova melodies played on a Casio keyboard. They're inappropriate for this kind of game, and are of objectively poor quality, but there's something oddly endearing about them.
Sound effects:
Normal sound effects are roughly comparable, but oddly the Genesis version has voice samples and the SNES doesn't. Specifically, in the Genesis version the ship's computer (which has a female voice -- don't they all?) will tell you when there's an incoming enemy, or if your shields are critically low. No such luck on the SNES.
In addition, a couple of the SNES sound effects sound like they've been poorly digitized, with audible compression artifacts. (It wouldn't surprise me if they were taken from the Genesis version.)
Controls:
These use different layouts but are basically similar. However, the SNES version uses the shoulder buttons for attacks, which isn't really ergonomic and gets taxing when you're button-mashing. Overall I found the Genesis control scheme slightly more intuitive, and the controls seemed a bit more responsive.
Gameplay:
The basic gameplay in both versions is essentially the same, and as someone who's very familiar with the Genesis game, I was able to pick up the SNES version very quickly. However there are some significant differences.
In both games, you can fight up to 4 simultaneous enemies in a battle. In the Genesis version, up to 2 enemies at once can engage you in close combat; this means that their sprites are fully displayed and they can be hit by your regular cannon. Any remaining enemies are depicted with tiny sprites, and can only really be hit by missiles, though they continue to shoot at you. When the nearby enemies are destroyed, the ones "in reserve" immediately engage you up close.
In the SNES version, you can only fight one enemy at a time in close combat; the others are all kept at a distance. This limits your options somewhat, since on the Genesis version if you're having a hard time tracking an adversary, you can always opt to target the other enemy ship nearby.
However, on the SNES, the last enemy of each group will often have a different color, which means it's a stronger version of the same ship -- a kind of mini-boss at the end of the combat. This doesn't happen in the Genesis version.
Despite the slowdown, the pace of the SNES version is a bit faster overall. This is partly because the hit detection is more forgiving (see below), but the warping and black hole sequences are slightly shorter, which saves a bit of time.
Difficulty:
The Genesis version has two difficulty levels; the SNES version has no option to change the difficulty. This makes a comparison a bit tricky, but overall I'd say that the SNES version is quite a bit easier, for several reasons:
- Your shots and missiles connect far more consistently in the SNES version. You still have to lead your shots, and sometimes your bullets will seem to pass right through an enemy ship, but overall it's much more forgiving than the Genesis version. For most people this will be a real advantage.
- You get more points for completing missions and battle victories in the SNES version -- sometimes a lot more points -- which in turn makes it easier to get ship upgrades and medals.
However, carrier missions are a bit tougher in the SNES version. In the Genesis version, spawned enemies will obligingly park themselves between you and the carrier, which means it's almost impossible not to destroy them as soon as they appear. On the SNES, they're much quicker to get out of the firing line.
Other notes:
The SNES version seems a little bit buggy (though with the caveat that I played it via flash cart). In the course of playing through the game, I saw occasional graphical glitches, including text boxes that were superimposed on one another and sprites that were momentarily replaced by text blocks. I also had the music cut out on me at least once.
Finally, on one occasion an ordinary enemy ship suddenly became invulnerable, absorbing multiple missile hits and tons of shots without consequence. I had to warp out of that sector and back in, and then I was able to destroy it with no trouble. I didn't see any of these bugs on the Genesis.
I found the radar more useful on the Genesis, where it genuinely helped me strategize during dogfights. On the SNES, it was nearly useless.
When you beat Campaign mode in the Genesis version, you get a brief fireworks show. No such luck in the SNES version, which just goes straight to a normal mission-ending screen.
Final verdict:
Most players won't want to play this at all! :D But of those brave souls that remain, I tend to think that many will prefer the SNES version for its easier difficulty and flashier presentation. To me, though, it feels somehow more generic and dumbed-down than the Genesis version.
Maybe it's because I played the Genesis port first, but I like the selectable difficulty, the goofy tunes, the streamlined control scheme, and the small extra touches. It just has a narcotic, spaced-out appeal that I don't find as present in the SNES version. That said, the difficulty in getting your shots to connect in the Genesis version can be a real source of frustration.
Dummy post to see if I can attach the WarpSpeed Genesis images here and then include them in the previous post (because of the 5 attachment per post limit)...
Attachment 8784Attachment 8785Attachment 8786Attachment 8787Attachment 8788
Chester Cheetah: Too Cool to Fool
Case: C (significant differences in gameplay and level design)
Genre: Mascot/advertising platformer
Verdict: Initially seemed like a draw, but I think the Genesis version has a real edge
SNES screenshots:
http://www.sega-16.com/forum/attachm...1&d=1403924748
http://www.sega-16.com/forum/attachm...2&d=1403924814
Genesis screenshots:
http://www.sega-16.com/forum/attachm...3&d=1403924865
http://www.sega-16.com/forum/attachm...4&d=1403924919
Pros and cons:
Graphics/Presentation:
The sprites and backgrounds are generally quite similar, though some nuances are different, and some backgrounds on the Genesis show typical dithering and checkerboard patterns. It's a fairly good-looking game on either platform, with bright colors and clear lines.
As you can see, the title screens differ a great deal, as do the introduction sequences. The SNES version makes heavy use of a spotlight effect, showing Chester Cheetah in front of a brick wall, striking various poses (including taking a bath) before settling down to the main title screen, which uses a typical SNES scaling effect on the main titles. By contrast, the Genesis version starts with an animated sequence that introduces you to Chester's animal friends.
The SNES version's attract mode plays out with "Chester Cheetah" superimposed over the screen, while the Genesis version doesn't have that and is oddly silent.
Once you begin the game, the SNES version starts each level with a plain screen of rhyming text, and at least one screen (Stage 2) has a significant formatting error that omits a word. The Genesis version prefaces each level with a static image and an iris wipe (circle that reveals, then hides the image), and this is definitely more appealing and polished.
The SNES has a more fully-featured HUD than the Genesis version.
Another odd difference is in the ending credits. The scrolling text in the SNES version is blurry and only reaches the midpoint of the screen, whereas the Genesis version has full-screen text that's much clearer. On the other hand, the final animation of Chester on his motorcycle is very choppy on the Genesis, while the SNES version uses a typical scaling effect to make for a smoother sprite transitions. (However, Chester is smiling in the Genesis version, whereas he's oddly slack-jawed in the SNES animation.)
Finally, the sunglasses item makes the screen go black-and-white in the Genesis version, but darkens the screen in the SNES version. While the SNES effect might seem more appropriate, it also makes things harder to see!
Music/Sound Effects:
Pretty much what you'd expect, with canned-sounding sampled instruments vs. mediocre FM programming. Neither soundtrack is a barn-burner, but I'd probably give the edge to the SNES.
The sound effects on the SNES are a bit better. In particular, Chester's jump sound is an odd two-tone effect on the Genesis, whereas his SNES jump sounds more appropriately springy.
Controls:
More or less identical.
Gameplay/Level Design:
The basic gameplay in both versions is similar, and most aspects of the level design are unchanged between ports, so that a player who's played through one version will recognize most of the other.
However, there are some differences throughout the game. For example, in Stage 1, the roller-skating turtles can be killed in the SNES version, but can only be temporarily disabled in the Genesis version (like Dry Bones in Super Mario World). Also in Stage 1, there are major differences in the structure of the sewer system, and the transparency effect used when you're in pipes in the SNES version is replaced with a shadow effect in the Genesis port. The Genesis version has a short, optional area where you pilot a boat, but that's been cut from the SNES version.
In Stage 2, the swinging vines control a bit differently between versions (I slightly prefer the handling of the SNES version). On the other hand, the kangaroo enemy is invincible on the SNES, but can be killed easily on the Genesis. And climbing ropes, which is painfully slow in the SNES version, hums along nicely in the Genesis version.
In Stage 3, when you're being carried across the water by Hip-O, the annoying guitar item that's in your path (and makes you jump into the water) is very difficult to avoid in the SNES version, but can be easily ducked in the Genesis version. Once you get into the boat, there's some nice-looking parallax and animated water effects in the Genesis version; this section moves faster on the SNES, but looks dramatically worse. In addition, the obstacle course before the boss fight is sparse and downright simplistic in the SNES version, while the Genesis version is trickier (or at least more interesting) and offers several health refills that are absent in the SNES version. The Stage 3 boss fight is absolutely trivial in the SNES version since you can grab the target item immediately and end the stage; at least in the Genesis version, you have to dodge the boss's attacks a little bit.
Some of the biggest changes are found in Stage 4. First of all, the SNES version uses a spotlight effect throughout that limits visibility. It superficially adds to the challenge, but it's mainly just annoying. This is entirely absent from the Genesis version, but on the downside, enemies respawn on the Genesis. Enemy behavior is also somewhat different; the small bats damage you on the Genesis version (they don't on the SNES), but you can sometimes bounce off the mole's quills (?) in the Genesis version (you can't on the SNES).
The next big change is the mine cart area before the boss fight (which thankfully isn't a brutal memorization game). In the Genesis port, it's a twisting, turning affair that requires a few jumps to dodge enemies and move between platforms. The SNES version moves a bit faster and makes heavy use of rotation effects, but is dumbed-down by comparison -- you can simply duck the whole time, and only need to pop your head up if you want to grab items.
Finally, the Stage 4 boss fight is an absolute joke in the SNES version. You can duck into your mine cart to avoid projectiles, and Grunt (the dog) helpfully pauses after every third projectile, leaving himself wide open for an attack. The Genesis boss battle is far tougher, and actually verges on being frustrating, but every so often the boss will retreat for 20-30 seconds and you'll encounter a large group of bouncing boulders with health items in tow. The hit detection is also far more forgiving on the SNES.
Stage 5 is mostly the same, but the Genesis version gives you a short animation when you take to the skies with your insect pal. This is absent in the SNES version. The Genesis version also allows you to bounce-attack some flying enemies, which you can't do at all on the SNES. On the other hand, the (rather gimmicky) scaling effects on the final boss are far smoother on the SNES.
Also, the forced-scrolling bonus stages use a different gameplay mechanic in each port. On the SNES, it's all about jumping, whereas the Genesis stages mainly rely on vertical movement.
Difficulty:
The SNES version lets you select from 1-5 starting credits; the Genesis version doesn't -- you always begin with five. You can also earn additional credits during gameplay, and this seems much easier to do on the Genesis for some reason.
That said, the Genesis version seems somewhat harder than the SNES version. In particular, all of the bosses take significantly more hits to defeat, especially the Stage 4 boss who requires 10+ hits on the Genesis, but only 5 on the SNES.
Final verdict:
When I first started this comparison I'd just beaten the SNES version and hadn't played the Genesis game in about a year, and I expected there to be very little difference between the ports. If anything, I figured the SNES game was probably the developers' main target platform, and would look and sound a little better.
However, when I revisited the Genesis port, I gradually realized that it's really the better version of the game. The SNES port is just too easy, and several boss fights are so dumbed-down that they're just pathetic. The Genesis game can be frustrating, but there's more substance to the gameplay. Neither port is any great shakes as a game, but other than the music and sound effects, the SNES doesn't have any real positives to offer over the Genesis version.
Chester Cheetah: Wild Wild Quest
Case: B (one of the platforms has a vastly superior version)
Genre: Mascot/advertising platformer
Verdict: Genesis version is far better, for one reason above all
(This is going to be much shorter than the other Chester Cheetah comparison.)
SNES screenshots:
http://www.sega-16.com/forum/attachm...6&d=1403981410
http://www.sega-16.com/forum/attachm...7&d=1403981416
Genesis screenshots:
http://www.sega-16.com/forum/attachm...8&d=1403981425
http://www.sega-16.com/forum/attachm...9&d=1403981433
Pros and cons:
Graphics/Presentation:
As with Too Cool to Fool, sprites, animations, and backgrounds are generally similar, and the game's graphics are bright and clear.
Much like Zombies Ate My Neighbors, the SNES version overlays your score and other status information on the main gameplay area, while the Genesis version puts that in a black bar at the top of the screen. This takes away a considerable amount of screen real estate, and is a real demerit for the Genesis version.
EDIT: Sega-16 user Pyron notes that "Overall [Wild Wild Quest] puts more colors on the screen and does a better shading than the SNES version and is an example of how to use the colors correctly on Mega Drive." One of his screenshots has a color count of 42 on the SNES vs. 54 on the Genesis. So, edge to Genesis on color count and usage.
Music/Sound Effects:
Neither version distinguishes itself in this department, but supposedly the SNES music was the original composition, and the Genesis soundtrack was then ported by Nobuyuki Shioda. The Genesis version has some changes that, to my ear, sound like errors in transcription (e.g. the Omahog music), so the SNES gets the edge here.
Controls:
The fundamentals are the same, with one major difference: the SNES version lets you "swim" in the air up to eight times, vs. only five or so in the Genesis version. This makes it much easier to reach certain platforms on the SNES, but also makes it possible to bypass large sections of each level rather trivially.
On bonus stages, there's very noticeable input lag when jumping in the SNES version. This isn't present in the Genesis version. I frequently found that the SNES jumping controls were unresponsive, especially when slowdown kicked in.
Gameplay/Level Design:
As with Too Cool to Fool, most aspects of the level design are unchanged between ports. The SNES version seems a bit more lavish with items, especially extra lives; for example, there's an obvious 1UP before you enter the farmhouse in Omahog, and that's not present on the Genesis.
Between the added screen real estate and the more forgiving gameplay, it might seem that the SNES version has an edge so far. However, there's a game-breaking problem with Wild Wild Quest on the SNES: constant, crippling slowdown.
As soon as you have more than one enemy onscreen, the game speed will inevitably start to suffer; indeed, even a single projectile-firing enemy can be enough. And if you have a bunch of enemies onscreen, the game can slow to a crawl. This can completely throw off the player's rhythm, and sometimes the game clearly eats your controller inputs.
The Genesis version does exhibit slowdown once in a while, but typically only when a bunch of enemies are defeated in short order and all drop items as they fall offscreen, e.g. the groups of piglets in the farmhouse at Omahog.
Difficulty:
Collision detection is more forgiving in the SNES version, though once or twice I took a hit and had no idea where it came from.
Boss fights mostly seem considerably easier on the SNES. For example, the Beach Lady boss battle in Euphreaka can be tricky on the Genesis, but is an absolute pushover on the SNES, mostly because it seems almost impossible to take a hit from her.
However, the final boss battle is monumentally harder on the SNES (especially on Hard mode where Mean Eugene takes 16 hits to kill), mostly due to weird collision detection and illogical hitboxes. On the Genesis, it's trivial.
Final verdict:
Despite the fact that the SNES version offers more screen real estate and a pleasant boost in your ability to "swim" in the air, the massive slowdown and dropped controller inputs pretty much destroy the gameplay. If you're going to play this game at all, stick with the Genesis version.
They could have at least made a background for that black bar. It just looks ugly...
I agree with your overall conclusion, that said I can't agree with a couple of comments concerning the SNES version namely that the controls and hit detection were horrible. IMO they were fine, however overall, despite the better graphics and sound the SNES version just did not play like the arcade version. Not that it played bad in any way it just played different. The Mega Drive version it terms of actual gameplay was closer to the arcade e.g. combo system and stuff you could do in the arcade went down a whole lot better in the Mega Drive than on SNES. Missing blood and gore was obviously another shortcoming of the SNES version. The obvious upside of the SNES version was that one could play it on the standard SNES controller - with the Mega Drive, there was the case of too few buttons on the standard controller.Quote:
Originally Posted by ncovert
They might seem so but if you play the genesis version, and then switch to the SNES version, you'll feel it. SNES one is clearly less responsive.Quote:
Originally Posted by MtothaJ
Scorpion's teleport punch tells all it needs to.
Growing up in the 90's I was the kid on the block with the SNES, and my friend down the street was the one with the Sega Genesis, [even though we would have console wars with each other I always knew the Sega Genesis was the better console, I longed after one since it's debut in '89 but never got one until I was an adult] we both owned the Mortal Kombat games, and I can definately say the Sega Genesis port is amazing compared to the SNES version. As Kamahl said, SNES one is clearly less responsive.
I just wish they would have kept the arcade-based backgrounds on certain stages intact on the Genesis port like they did on the SNES port.
to be fair it really has to do with developers, the MK series for example had different developers, so it be intresting if you swapped the developer around. Also if you add cart size that can make a difference too. Secondly the megadrive got the backend of certain titles because developers knew it was a more popular system in terms of numbers. In the UK the megadrive always seem to get the big titles from konami and capcom after the snes versions which always seemed bad for the megadrive. Seeing games with less impressive graphics coming out after the snes went against the megadrive. However games like earthworm jim were ported poorly for the snes.Quote:
Originally Posted by Chaniyth