Game Gear arcade ports

[redsox2013]

I'm trying to compile a list of all ports of arcade games released for the Game Gear in the U.S. I'm excluding ports of Sega's own arcade games as I know most of those - I'm really interested in ports of games from other companies. Here's the only ones I know of:

Pac-Man
Ms. Pac-Man
Marble Madness
Mortal Kombat
Mortal Kombat 2
NBA Jam + T.E.

[Zz Badnusty]

Pac-Man
Ms. Pac-Man
Marble Madness
Mortal Kombat
Mortal Kombat 2
NBA Jam + T.E.

Here are some more, and I think there are yet a few others besides these:
Bust-A-Move
Columns
Fantasy Zone Gear
Fatal Fury Special
Galaga '91
Klax
Mortal Kombat 3 (Europe only?)
Off Road
Out Run
Paper Boy
Pengo
Primal Rage
Samurai Shodown
Space Harrier
Super Monaco GP
Super Smash TV
Virtua Fighter Mini
Wonder Boy

And from Japan:
Mappy
Puyo Puyo


and: Halley Wars is the sequel to an arcade game Halley's Comet

Tangential to the request for arcade games on Game Gear, I checked to see if Magical Puzzle Popils was a port and instead learned that Fukio Mitsuji aka "MTJ" is one of the greats.

[j_factor]

Virtua Fighter Mini wasn't an arcade game, and neither was Fantasy Zone Gear.

Off the top of my head:

Arch Rivals
Mortal Kombat 3
Puyo Puyo Tsuu/2
Bubble Bobble
Columns
Chase HQ
Super Off Road
Alien Syndrome
Klax
Paperboy
Fatal Fury Special
Rastan
T2: The Arcade Game (or so it claims! )

[Black_Tiger]

Arcade Classics set
Baku Baku
Berlin Wall
Captain America & Avengers
Clutch Hitter
Double Dragon
G-Loc
GP Rider
Side Pocket
Space Invaders
Superman

[redsox2013]

Were Galaga 91 or Space Invaders ever released in the U.S.?

[Zz Badnusty]

Were Galaga 91 or Space Invaders ever released in the U.S.?

Galaga '91 was not.
Super Space Invaders was published by Domark in the U.S.A.

Granted my previously listed Virtua Fighter Animation [Mini] isn't an arcade port. Quite a few other of the games we've listed fall into a bit of a grey area when considering them as ports. If I'm not mistaken many of these ports are reinterpretation to fit the hardware. Which begs the question, at what point is the line crossed from bad port to reinterpretation or platform translation?

[redsox2013]

I'm a big fan of late 70's & 80's arcade games, and that's what I'm most interested in (for this topic anyway). I really enjoy playing games like Pac Man & Marble Madness on my GG. I'd love to get Galaga 91, but it's quite expensive considering it wasn't available in the U.S. Too bad there's no games like the original Galaga, Q*Bert, Pole Position or Joust on the GG.

[A Black Falcon]

I'd call something an arcade port if it's actually a port of the arcade game. If it's a different game with a similar concept and the same name, that's not a port, that's an original title. So, I would not count GP Rider or G-LOC as ports -- they are not the same as the arcade versions of those games, not even close. They're good games for the GG for sure, but they aren't ports, they're new games with new features and content not in other versions. Super Space Invaders and Captain America and the Avengers are also original titles -- that latter one isn't a port of the arcade beat 'em up, it's a GB/GG sidescroller, and Super Space Invaders is an original title.

As for Galaga '91, is it a new game or an altered port of Galaga '88 (aka Galaga '90 in the US) for TG16/Arcade?


On the other hand, Paperboy 2 is also on Game Gear, as well as the first game (which was listed above).

[j_factor]

Super Space Invaders is a port, as far as I can tell.

[Black_Tiger]

It's harder to draw a line for whether a game should count as a port or not when looking at the 8-bit generation. Strict rules, like a game not changjng the stages or gameplay, would likely disqualify most games which most people consider to be ports.

When looking at a generation as early as 8-bit, people interested in (arcade) usually just want something in the same general spirit as the original or want to see how a game was handled on the inferior hardware. So if strict rules are used, then a second list of 'based on' titles should also be kept, as it will likely be at least as useful to most people.

[Zz Badnusty]

When looking at a generation as early as 8-bit, people interested in (arcade) usually just want something in the same general spirit as the original or want to see how a game was handled on the inferior hardware.

Yeah. That's where I was coming from when I listed Virtua Fighter Animation and Fantasy Zone Gear.

[A Black Falcon]

Super Space Invaders is a port, as far as I can tell.

Oh yeah, the arcade game has a different name. Forgot about that.

It's harder to draw a line for whether a game should count as a port or not when looking at the 8-bit generation. Strict rules, like a game not changjng the stages or gameplay, would likely disqualify most games which most people consider to be ports.

When looking at a generation as early as 8-bit, people interested in (arcade) usually just want something in the same general spirit as the original or want to see how a game was handled on the inferior hardware. So if strict rules are used, then a second list of 'based on' titles should also be kept, as it will likely be at least as useful to most people.

As someone who cares about accurate terminology (some people would say too much), I'd never call an original title (ie not an actual port of the arcade game) a real port, they are different, very different.

I guess there is a bit of a grey area, though, in some cases -- thinking of Gauntlet Legends, the arcade, N64, PS1, and DC versions are each very different in contents and features, but they are all "versions" of the game -- but generally, if it's not based on the arcade game I'd call it something different. And I do think of the home versions of Gauntlet Legends as being more than just ports. So no, ports and original titles are different.

[j_factor]

It's harder to draw a line for whether a game should count as a port or not when looking at the 8-bit generation. Strict rules, like a game not changjng the stages or gameplay, would likely disqualify most games which most people consider to be ports.

It's hard to draw a line precisely, and some do fall into a gray area, but plenty of games have the same title and some shared artwork and are pretty clearly not ports. I don't think anyone, having played both, would argue that Strider for NES was a port of the arcade game, for example.

When looking at a generation as early as 8-bit, people interested in (arcade) usually just want something in the same general spirit as the original or want to see how a game was handled on the inferior hardware. So if strict rules are used, then a second list of 'based on' titles should also be kept, as it will likely be at least as useful to most people.

I think that'd be more useful for the sake of making the explicit distinction. In many instances, I'm more interested because it's not a port. Fantasy Zone for Game Gear? Eh, I've played that game before on SMS and Turbografx. A Game Gear exclusive entry in the Fantasy Zone series? Now we're talking.

[BrianC]

Does GP Rider count as a port/conversion of Super Hang On? It has a mode that is very similar complete with a world map course select.

[Guntz]

It may not be 100% the same, but it definitely is very similar to Super Hang On.