# "Lesser" ports/versions of games you enjoyed anyway.



## FAST6191 (Jan 15, 2015)

It is perhaps not such a thing these days, partially because Sony and Microsoft go some way to ensuring near identical offerings of games between their platforms, but where games get ported between platforms you usually end up with one of them being the lesser port.

http://retro-sanctuary.com/Comparisons Main.html covers a few of them.

The internet archive's recent adding of several thousand DOS games, including the DOS version of Toobin', got me thinking though. In that case the DOS version usually ended up being the definitive version, or if not that then the similarly open Amiga tended to find itself on par.

Equally the last go around saw the rather technically inferior DS go up against the PSP, but sometimes have the same games, and the PSP even saw remakes of several GBA games. GBAtemp's IRC also saw many people seek assistance in playing the Wii version of Call of Duty for reasons we were never able to fathom, it happened often enough that I have to think there might be something there.

This is not about which is best though but which versions of games did you find yourself really enjoying or attaching to the "lesser" version of.
Did you know it was the lesser version at the time? Quite often the NES and SNES would see ports of arcade or games on consoles that were "Big in Japan". This even goes right up to games like Castlevania.
Was the console you were playing it on your only console? Though DOS might have been superior there was a time where a PC was considered one of the bigger investments a family was set to make.
I am accepting "well the PS1 got ??? but at the same time there was also a GBC version named exactly the same and telling the same story that I really liked and played for hours". GBAtemp recommends revival often featured handheld games that did surprisingly well for being named the same as a far shinier console or PC game.

Ideally your picks would not be "I just like the GBA form factor more than the DS" but it is valid. It can come the other way as well as many consider the DS and andrios ports of some of the earlier Final Fantasy titles to not be good, however for others it might well have been your first experience of it, or at least first experience of it on a then current console.

For me
Street Racer on the megadrive/genesis. The SNES version was quite different but I still enjoyed this.
Bomberman on the megadrive/genesis. Mainly as I did not know about the PCE/TG16 version at the time, indeed even the SNES version was something I missed out on.
Tetris 2 on the NES. Mainly as this is what I had.
Talespin on the NES.
Probably quite a few things on the C64 if they appeared elsewhere.
Forsaken on the N64, it is actually one of my favourite N64 games. However I still need to do the PC version properly.

Though Streets of Rage is one of my favourite franchises there is a certain level of amusement that I derived from the master system/game gear (I had a master system adapter available) versions.

It looks like despite best intentions I have waffled over the top of a simple discussion setup so I will leave it there for now.


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## endoverend (Jan 15, 2015)

Although it's not technically a game console I really enjoyed playing games on a TI-83 calculator, especially Tetris. It was extremely fun and even had a 2 player mode, plus it was math-class approved.


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## RevPokemon (Jan 15, 2015)

I know it is unpopular to say but I actually prefer the SMS sonic games of the ones on the Gen simply because I like the slower gameplay..


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## Kippykip (Jan 15, 2015)

GBA Doom


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## Taleweaver (Jan 15, 2015)

Mortal kombat on the SNES. It had no blood, but it was all my friends and I had to play. I think the same goes for the final fight games (1 and 3), but I really never played it on any other console.

Though I hardly played it (on an emulator), I would also say Turtles 2 on the NES. Though it was visually and control-wise worse than the arcade version, at least that didn't eat my coins as much (and yes, I played it on MAME as well...but after so many runs, I'd decided I wanted to see the differences).

EDIT: the link to the internet archives is broken. That should be the following:

http://gbatemp.net/threads/the-inte...ftware-library-available-free-to-play.378520/


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## FAST6191 (Jan 15, 2015)

RevPokemon said:


> I know it is unpopular to say but I actually prefer the SMS sonic games of the ones on the Gen simply because I like the slower gameplay..



I was actually thinking about the master system sonic games as I wrote that. However I am not sure they were intended to be ports so I left them. Anyway I would not go so far as to say I preferred it but it certainly has its place, and they are definitely better than basically that happened post 16 bit world.

Thanks Taleweaver, fixed.


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## RevPokemon (Jan 15, 2015)

FAST6191 said:


> I was actually thinking about the master system sonic games as I wrote that. However I am not sure they were intended to be ports so I left them. Anyway I would not go so far as to say I preferred it but it certainly has its place, and they are definitely better than basically that happened post 16 bit world.
> 
> Thanks Taleweaver, fixed.


After that other games I would include

Orangebox(Ps3) great game but wasn't done by valve as they didn't like the ps3 and the PC versions of the games is better

Sonic Adventure 2 DX, honestly its on of my favorite games with the missions and the camera setting actually aren't that bad compared other 3d sonic games. Reason its a lesser port is due to lower reviews then when it was on Dreamcast

Doom(SNES) great game but PC version was the best

Pacman (2600) it is no where near as good as the original but considering it was an arcade game ported to the 3 year old 2600 which was much weaker it was still somewhat impressive.

In short most home console versions of arcade games as cuts had to be made...


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## UltraDolphinRevolution (Aug 13, 2019)

Usually people considered Wii ports (from PS3/360/PC, not PS2/PSP) to be inferior but I usually enjoye them anyways and in some cases they are actually superior thanks to the Wiimote (e.g. the Pro Evolution Soccer series).


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## qqq1 (Aug 13, 2019)

I love the Wii version of Ghostbusters way more. I have the pc version and it certainly looks better but I like the Wiimote proton pack.


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## EmulateLife (Aug 13, 2019)

I still enjoy the original Resident Evil even though the graphics are terrible and the gameplay is outdated. The cheesy dialogue makes it worth it.


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## Seliph (Aug 13, 2019)

Metal Gear Solid 3 for the 3DS was a fantastic port. It had everything great about the original game, just lesser graphics and some frame drops in certain places. Nearly a 1/1 port, but it also added the survival viewer to the touchpad which was nice and the addition of gyro aiming is fantastic. If you can stand the lesser graphics and smaller screen of the 3DS, I'd argue that this may be the best port of the game considering its portability, though it can be somewhat hard to come by.

Oh and I almost forgot to mention that you can crouch walk in this port which is pretty neat too.


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## AdenTheThird (Aug 15, 2019)

OpenSyobon 3DS. A great port of what very well may be the most frustrating game in existence.
https://gbatemp.net/threads/release-opensyobon3ds-open-syobon-action-a-k-a-cat-mario-for-3ds.423872/


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## Reynardine (Aug 15, 2019)

- I love the PS2 version of Splinter Cell with the Nuclear Power Plant level even though the rest of the game was heavily downgraded compared to the XBOX original.

- I actually enjoyed playing through the unfinished Gameboy Color version of Resident Evil despite the brokenness of it all.
But my opinion doesn't weight much as my love of that game is unhealthy. I also like the original more than the Gamecube remake.

- Rayman Origins on PSVita was fantastic. Same for Legends.

- Zombies Ate My Neighbors is still fun on Megadrive/Genesis despite the downgraded graphics and music.

- On the reverse, Earthworm Jim on SNES is inferior but I like it anyways.

I didn't have any Sega consoles as a child, I grew up with the SNES versions and discovered the Sega ones later through emulation.

- Rayman 1 on Gameboy Color is great, but it is basically a different game, not sure if that counts.

- I like the Playstation port of Command & Conquer Red Alert, an RTS game.

- Ghosts n' Goblins on Gameboy Color is fun, less frustrating than the Arcade game and not as choppy as the NES port.

- Ghouls N' Ghosts on Megadrive/Genesis is really good.

- Tintin Le Temple De Soleil on Gameboy is a better game than the SNES version. The soundtrack of that game is SOO good.

- Conker's Pocket Tales on Gameboy is better than the Gameboy Color version.

- Splatterhouse on PC Engine/Turbografx is downgraded but still great.

- Salamander, Gradius and Parodius on PC Engine/Turbografx are great despite being slightly less fancy than the Arcade versions.

- Donkey Kong on the Atari 800 is fantastic, despite being inferior to the Arcade version. One of the few truly enjoyable ports of that game. A modern homebrew version, for the Intellivision of all things, is even better.

PC Engine and Atari/Intellivison are also consoles I only know through emulation. All the others are games I own and played back in the day.

That's all I can think of at the moment. There are probably more I've played, but I'm tired.
While thinking of games it took me a while to realize that no Nintendo games except Donkey Kong could possibly make the list as they are all platform exclusive, man, I really am tired.

Edit:
Well, actually, I prefer N64 Majora's Mask over the "superior" 3DS port because of all the things they've changed.


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## Sakitoshi (Aug 16, 2019)

Upaluppa said:


> Conker's Pocket Tales on Gameboy is better than the Gameboy Color version.


There is no gameboy version, it's the same game, the game is compatible with gameboy mono.

But on a similar note, I have a friend that prefers regular link's awakening on gameboy.

As for myself, I really like weird or improbable versions of games.
I like half-life on ps2 and half-life 2 and doom 3 on xbox og, those versions have their charm.
But asside from that, my favorite lesser version would be the sims bustin out on gba, so much fun than the ps2/gc/xbox version.


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## Reynardine (Aug 16, 2019)

Sakitoshi said:


> There is no gameboy version, it's the same game, the game is compatible with gameboy mono.
> 
> But on a similar note, I have a friend that prefers regular link's awakening on gameboy.
> 
> ...


Regarding Conker, that's not true, it's not the same game. It is the same cartridge, yes, but the game is completely different when played on an original Gameboy or a Super Gameboy.

Some mechanics are different and the level design differs as well.
The save files aren't compatible between GB and GBC version either.

As for Link's Awakening, one thing I love about the original non DX version is the "Select button while scrolling" glitch which allows for countless silly shenanigans.

I also recall something rather curious about the German black & white version. The electric monster that gives out hints when using magic powder on it said something about always using condoms. Yes, I'm being serious.

I was confused the first time I read that while playing the game. The DX version obviously got rid of that.


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## FAST6191 (Aug 16, 2019)

Condoms in Link's Awakening?

Perfect time to bring actual favourite ROM hack ever
The Legend of Zelda Link Gets Laid


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## DarthDub (Aug 16, 2019)

Sonic Unleashed on PS2.


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## Glyptofane (Aug 16, 2019)

DarthDub said:


> Sonic Unleashed on PS2.


At the time, I was simply wishing he would once again be leashed.


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## Sakitoshi (Aug 16, 2019)

Upaluppa said:


> Regarding Conker, that's not true, it's not the same game. It is the same cartridge, yes, but the game is completely different when played on an original Gameboy or a Super Gameboy.
> 
> Some mechanics are different and the level design differs as well.
> The save files aren't compatible between GB and GBC version either.


That's interesting.
Maybe I should copy it to my smartcard and play it on my gb light.


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## Reynardine (Aug 16, 2019)

Sakitoshi said:


> That's interesting.
> Maybe I should copy it to my smartcard and play it on my gb light.


If you find Conker's Pocket Tales enjoyable (many people seem to hate it) and haven't seen the black & white version yet give it a try.

I randomly discovered that there were two different games on the cartridge thanks to the Super Gameboy. I wanted to play the game on the TV and it asked me to delete all my savedata. I was a child, I probably didn't even read that and just kept pressing buttons to get into the game. My save was gone, but to my surprise I discovered a better version of Conker instead. 

If I recall correctly some enemies leave behind extra energy when you defeat them in the B&W version which makes it a bit less frustrating. Energy refills are limited in the GBC version, they never respawn once collected. There are also fixed save points, you can't just save anywhere. Conker is less likely to get stuck on scenery, I think. Oh, and some animations are longer/better, the digging anim comes to mind.

Hah, my parents bought Pocket Tales for me when it came out and I actually liked it. It was so strange playing Conker's Bad Fur Day many years later. I still wish Twelve Tales: Conker 64 had come out, if only to hear better quality renditions of Pocket Tales' music which was pretty good.

I love this track, even with the fart noise instrument.
And now I feel like playing this game again.

I could never finish the Maco Islands minigames as a child, almost as frustrating as Canary Mary in Banjo-Tooie...


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## ThoD (Aug 16, 2019)

First one the comes to mind is the Persona 3 port for the PSP, that was amazing and MUCH better than the standard PS2 version but people bash on it for not having the FES post-game stuff, which I don't mind. In order to port it, they basically only cut out the walking around the city/school parts (which I DESPISE in Persona games because it's just annoying and takes ages having to go around all the time) and left the rest of the game as is, that's all, on top of fixing couple bugs, resulting in easily the best port of a game out there in my opinion if we exclude PC ports, really don't get how people always forget to mention it...

And to be honest many ports to the PSP are better than originals if you ask me like the GTA ones among others even if they are considered inferior just because they don't play at 720p (standard back in the day PC had) or 480p (consoles)


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## delta7890 (Aug 22, 2019)

Many folks frown on them, but I quite like the GBA ports of the various SNES Mario games, as well as Link to the Past.  If there was some way to address the reduced screen resolution through emulation, they'd be perfect in my book.


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## TheManHimself (Aug 26, 2019)

I've probably spent more time with the SNES port of Samurai Shodown than I have with the real thing. I've come to the point in my life where I have a consolized MVS, and Samurai Shodown II is one of the more affordable NEO GEO carts, so I haven't really looked back for non-emulated SS; but that SNES port was a serviceable substitute for the real thing, and that's really all you can ask for from an inferior port.


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## galaxian101 (Sep 7, 2020)

delta7890 said:


> Many folks frown on them, but I quite like the GBA ports of the various SNES Mario games, as well as Link to the Past.  If there was some way to address the reduced screen resolution through emulation, they'd be perfect in my book.


Agree on the GBA SNES ports - especially the Capcom titles like Final Fight One and Super Ghouls and Ghosts


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## emigre (Sep 7, 2020)

This was my (Sonic) jam.


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## Deleted User (Sep 7, 2020)

Need for Speed Carbon: Own the City
In my opinion it has a better story. I mean, at least it's a complete story, with a dark(ish) twist in the end (kinda like Heat). Shame they didn't implement bullet time, it had the perfect plot device for it.


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## Silent_Gunner (Sep 9, 2020)

Mortal Kombat on Game Boy. It plays and animates like Kronika's fucking around with the Hourglass, but the music...



0:30 for the first fight theme, 4:40 for the second fight theme. I always thought that these compositions would've made for a kickass remix, but seeing as these are the Game Boy versions of these games, and that it isn't the main console versions, well...

These tracks were also used on the Game Gear version, but with that...Master System synth sound to it. IDK, I just never liked how that chip sounded, for the most part.


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## FAST6191 (Sep 9, 2020)

Silent_Gunner said:


> Mortal Kombat on Game Boy. It plays and animates like Kronika's fucking around with the Hourglass, but the music...
> 
> 
> 
> ...



For a second there I thought the demoscene/keygen music collection tab had not in fact been paused.
Rarely have I heard that sort of thing out of the GB/GBC, probably would not have heard it either as I am unlikely to investigate fighting game ports to such things (even on the GBA I have never played a good one really and that has far more in the way of buttons, resolution and power).


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## Silent_Gunner (Sep 9, 2020)

FAST6191 said:


> For a second there I thought the demoscene/keygen music collection tab had not in fact been paused.
> Rarely have I heard that sort of thing out of the GB/GBC, probably would not have heard it either as I am unlikely to investigate fighting game ports to such things (even on the GBA I have never played a good one really and that has far more in the way of buttons, resolution and power).



The music on the genesis versions of anything before MK3 sometimes is just a port of the arcade music to the Genesis sound chip, but sometimes, they have original music like with this one:





There's some tracks in there that are just Genesis renditions of the arcade equivalents, but it almost seems like the porting company Probe had some sound engineer who maybe was a part of the demoscene as you mentioned.

To go off topic for a moment, I find it quite coincidental that Vectorman 1's title screen intro sequence isn't all that different from this one Amiga tech demo that I came across:

 (has awesome music throughout, but the effect I'm referring to is at 7:40)


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## DinohScene (Sep 9, 2020)

I guess Minecraft and Borderlands for Vita come to mind.
GTA stories and CW on PSP.


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## FAST6191 (Sep 9, 2020)

I am quite familiar with the mortal kombat games on the megadrive, though I never really did the arcade stuff to compare such things (fighting games in arcades here consisted of street fighter 2, virtua fighter, maybe a tekken one on rare occasion and I guess some copies of double dragon -- most things were racing games, shooting games (gun and spaceship), random peripherals (skiing one was fun) and other more classical arcade fare)..

On the similarities there. I have no info on anybody working at such things but would not be surprised if something did carry across -- if you have programmers that off their own back made cool stuff then as long as they can vaguely fit in with your company culture you skip having to interview loads of people if you instead make them an offer. I would however bet more on it being simple coincidence/logical progression -- spheres are to 3d graphics (at least along with cubes and cones and triangles) what pixels are to 2d art, primary colours are often picked to stand out and while that list of features scrolling down the bottom is mightily impressive for that time and hardware if you look at the maths underpinning such things it was predicted too (what today is "need EA budget" game graphics was 10 years earlier "needs hours on super cluster to render a frame" and tomorrow will likely be "mid tier dev can just kick it all to the system resources", and what is theoretical maths today* will be said supercluster tomorrow).

*depending upon your position it might have been theoretical maths in the 1980s too. Fluid mechanics often noted that the computers were not there to crunch the numbers and thus their best and brightest wrote down all the equations, and then often wandered off to Wall street to play for them and then got brought back decades later when computers had caught up.


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