Originally Posted by 16bitter
The comparison will be more to the SNES Turbo than the arcade, as these two are obviously working from much the same base code.
It's always been believed that the SNES version is obviously better, and better it may still be. But beyond the issue of the Genesis having the better controller, one thing that isn't mentioned is that, in certain areas, it wins out in sound(!) effects and graphical touches. I'll go point by point as to what I've noticed, having played the two versions recently:
1. The Genesis version takes up slightly more of the screen, as the black bar is smaller. Last time I compared the two it seemed that the Genesis version also had ever so slightly bigger characters, but now I'm not so sure. I can't say why, but what seemed obvious before -- the Genesis having larger characters -- no longer seems obvious at all, and I might even say the opposite is true.
2. The Genesis version of the game also has no black bar at the character select, or character vs. screens. One wonders why, with the Genesis having the far better processor, this couldn't have been the case with the actual matches. Hmm.
3. Some background details are present on the Genny that aren't there on SNES, such as the extra couple in the background of Guile's stage, the presence of the moon on Ryu's stage (doesn't animate though) or the running faucet in Chun Li's background. On the other hand, I've noticed that the clouds animate on Blanka's stage on SNES but not Gen.
4. The elephants actually make noise throughout the match on Genesis, whereas on SNES they're silent until a character wins. This is a small issue, but how many thought Dhalsim had the coolest stage because of those elephants only to play the SNES version and wonder what happened? That was one cut that bothered me.
5. Everybody knows about the arcade opening being present on the Genesis when it wasn't on either of the SNES versions up to this point. And the title screen is true to the arcade version as well, unlike SNES Turbo. A very nice touch.
Overall, I'd still say the SNES version is better. From a presentation standpoint, the system simply has too much of an advantage as far as color palette and that legendary sound chip for this not to be the case. But it's funny to note the little dtails that made the cut for the Genesis version that didn't for SNES -- I guess those extra 4 megs actually added to the Genesis version in a few a areas.
And while the Genesis version of Hyper/Champ has some advantages and can compete with the SNES version, I'm not so sure as far as Super. The SNES version has every background detail of the Genesis this time, including those missing in previous versions (the water now runs in Chun Li's stage, Ryu's moon is present, Guile's pals make an appearance, etc.), as well as having some details the Genesis version is lacking, such as the updated signage in Balrog's stage. The new character stages also look pathetic on Genesis next to the SNES -- just check out Cammy's stage for an example -- whether this is because they taxed the Genesis' color palette to too great an extent or the programmers just made horrible choices is debatable, but the SNES stages look quite good while drubbing the Genesis.
The sound also took a step backward, sounding terrible as far as samples even compared to the less than stellar SCE. The SNES? While the announcer and sound effects are somewhat questionable, the music at times sounds nearly CD quality -- but this is one area that the Genesis could never really compete. The question remains why the audio was so awful for Genesis for this version, but maybe just too much was compressed into that little cart. At least the Genesis version has a sound sample or two that's missing from the SNES version, such as the "Round -, Fight" announcement.
I prefer the expert mode only on Genesis though, and Nomad hides a good amount of its flaws. What looks bad and sound horrendous on tv has the illusion of a lot of color on the smaller screen and doesn't sound nearly as awful. In fact, I've probably played this version of Super as much or more than any other since it's been the best portable SF for most of its existence.