8 bit ports that are better than the arcade...

[Unofficial Who]

I'm not talking ports that captured the feel of the arcade parent but games where control changes made it better!

My pick would have to be the little known Crazy Climber varient Firetrap. I fell in love with this back on the C64 in the day. You basically climb a building that's on fire rescueing randoms and avoiding fire, falling pianos and rescuing people and dogs by attaching little parachutes to them. It was chunky but fast moving.

Looks a little dull here but it's great in action.

The arcade though looks a lot better

but I've never really been able to get to grips with the Crazy Climber, one stick controls one hand the other stick the other hand movement. Works for Crazy Climber but for this there's just too much going on.

What about the rest of you? Which arcade ports worked better at home?

[Oh Danny Boy]

are there any???

I'm sure the pcengine probably has some neat ports that may rival the arcade originals but i've never played the arcade originals to make a fair comparison

[Unofficial Who]

are there any???

I'm sure the pcengine probably has some neat ports that may rival the arcade originals but i've never played the arcade originals to make a fair comparison

There are loads! Mainly to do with controls and playability. And nostalgia.

[bcass]

Renegade on the Spectrum. Far, far superior controls compared to the arcade version. Actually, everything about the Spectrum version was better than the arcade version.

[merman]

Buggy Boy on the C64. It captures the essence of the arcade game, but it runs at a nice fast pace, has a smaller buggy and a good 3D effect.

[bcass]

Yeah, Buggy Boy is ace on the C64, but I don't think it necessarily improved on the controls of the arcade original.

[Unofficial Who]

Yeah, Buggy Boy is ace on the C64, but I don't think it necessarily improved on the controls of the arcade original.

Buggy Bog on the C64 doesn't really 'steer'. You only use left and right to change lanes. You can go around corners at full pelt without touching the stick. I loved it to bits though. Never got on with the arcade version.

It's another one where the C64 chunkiness adds to the charm.

Arcade

C64

[trickytree]

I can think of loads of great arcade to C64 conversions, but not really any that improved on the arcade.

I think 'nostalgia' is the key word here

[super_quincy]

C64

[Qazimod]

I can think of a few 8-bit arcade conversions that I personally prefer in terms of aesthetics, but controls?

Ooh, Bionic Commando for the C64 mapped your weapon and your bionic arm to one button, saving you the hassle of swapping between two buttons throughout the game. Does that count?

EDIT: although come to think of it, trying to run forward and shoot someone only to have your arm stick out wasn't much fun...

[Monkeyspill]

Not exactly a conversion, but I thought Dropzone played better than Defender because of the controls.

[Asura]

A good example of this is nes contra vs arcade contra. I remember when the xbla contra came out, people were really disappointed with it due to this.

[Unofficial Who]

A good example of this is nes contra vs arcade contra. I remember when the xbla contra came out, people were really disappointed with it due to this.

The NES had a lot of good conversions that improved on the arcade. NES Strider doesn't count because it isn't better and as we've since discovered it was meant to be it's own Strider themed game rather than related to the arcade.

NES Bionic Commando exapanded on the arcade games quite a bit.

[DarhkFox]

Buggy Boy was pretty good. Although I had it on my Amiga mainly, i used to play that ALOT.

[roberthazelby]

bcass' suggestion of 'Renegade' is an excellent one.

I played the Speccy version and then stumbled upon the arcade version a few years later. I was stunned at how much better the Speccy version is.

I'm going to suggest Puzznic. The arcade version features awful music and terrible digitised porn. The 8-bit versions do away with that. (The Amiga version [yes, I know it's 16-bit] is absolutely brilliant. The music is amazing).

[Dimahoo]

I didn't play every single arcade when i was a kid but i sure had a C64 and none of the games i can think of honestly bettered arcade games but one that i thought was made easier was certainly Paperboy but lets face it, all of the Elite games were very, VERY good.

Green Beret, Mikie, Terra Cresta and Slap Fighter were very good too and again, Imagine were pretty much top of the game for Arcade conversions, but mainly that was music based because they had the legend that was Galway.

The C64 version of Buggy Boy certainly betters the Mame version, which AFAIK still doesn't work.

[roberthazelby]

Ah, yes. Slapfight. The graphics on the Speccy version were fantastic. The only problem was it was a little difficult see see the bullets. Still very playable.

Also, the Spec version of Flying Shark. An absolutely amazing conversion. I prefer the Speccy version of the arcade one.

[X_2_0]

I think Commando and Green Beret on the speccy.

On Commando you could get a good spray of bullets by waggling up/diagonals, which you couldnt on the arcade.

Green Beret had a much faster stab rate on the speccy too.

[Fry Crayola]

Renegade on the Spectrum. Far, far superior controls compared to the arcade version. Actually, everything about the Spectrum version was better than the arcade version.

I've never had the pleasure, though I do hear that the Speccy is the best of the bunch. The CPC version is amazingly good though, it just lacks the ability to throw and run, but the solid feel of your attacks and the excellent collision detection make it far superior to the rather wooly arcade one.

Among the best graphics on the system too, and the stage four soundtrack is just

[Unofficial Who]

I didn't play every single arcade when i was a kid but i sure had a C64 and none of the games i can think of honestly bettered arcade games but one that i thought was made easier was certainly Paperboy but lets face it, all of the Elite games were very, VERY good.

Green Beret, Mikie, Terra Cresta and Slap Fighter were very good too and again, Imagine were pretty much top of the game for Arcade conversions, but mainly that was music based because they had the legend that was Galway.

The C64 version of Buggy Boy certainly betters the Mame version, which AFAIK still doesn't work.

I still prefer the home versions of Paperboy mainly because every single emulated version of the arcade game I've played (the legal ones that is) don't work too well with a stick.

Elite were up and down with their conversions. I remember back in the day loving 1942 on the C64 but compare it to the arcade game and there's no contest.

BTW Buggy Boy and Buggy Boy Jr do work in Mame now although the defualts for the stick sensitivity is way too high. I'm sure someone will be looking at Buggy Boy and other mutli screen games soon with a view to emulating real multiscreen.

[Josh128]

Ninja Gaiden - NES

Double Dragon- NES

16 Bit

UN Squadron - SNES

I'm sure there are quite a few more.

[DonRumsfeld]

I've never had the pleasure, though I do hear that the Speccy is the best of the bunch. The CPC version is amazingly good though, it just lacks the ability to throw and run, but the solid feel of your attacks and the excellent collision detection make it far superior to the rather wooly arcade one.

Among the best graphics on the system too, and the stage four soundtrack is just

I vaguely remember playing it on a friend's CPC. Nice graphics, but did you have to use the space bar to do a flying kick? That's why I think the Speccy version nailed it. QAOP Space

[trickytree]

Ninja Gaiden - NES

Double Dragon- NES

They weren't really ports though, but different games. Ninja Gaiden changed from a beat-em-up to platformer, Double Dragon had very different levels. Same can be said of NES Bionic Commando.

16-bit did have quite a few - Mercs and Slap Fight on MD are two more which were good ports but had extra levels.

[smac]

Slapfight...Speccy version...very playable.

Nooooooooo. Insta-kill from invisible bullets. 'Hard to see'? Bloody nigh-on impossible on some stages.

Rest of the graphics were brilliant, mind.

Green Beret had a much faster stab rate on the speccy too.

Ah, I can still hear the 'chucka-chucka-chucka' sound that repeatedly hitting the stabbie-key made. That and the 'awooga' alarm on the level start.

Great conversion. Never really played it on the arcade, so can't really comment.

[ilpostino]

Nooooooooo. Insta-kill from invisible bullets. 'Hard to see'? Bloody nigh-on impossible on some stages.

Rest of the graphics were brilliant, mind.

Ah, I can still hear the 'chucka-chucka-chucka' sound that repeatedly hitting the stabbie-key made. That and the 'awooga' alarm on the level start.

Great conversion. Never really played it on the arcade, so can't really comment.

Home conversions of Green Beret were much better than the Arcade game, IMO. The Amstrad version was superb and I've played it 10 times as much as the arcade game. The music and sound effects are great.

My choice for this thread? Midnight Resistance on the Speccy.

[Fry Crayola]

I vaguely remember playing it on a friend's CPC. Nice graphics, but did you have to use the space bar to do a flying kick? That's why I think the Speccy version nailed it. QAOP Space

Cursor keys. They mapped the arcade's three attack buttons to Left, Down and Right on the cursors, with Down performing a jump and the other two acting as your attacks. Fiddly when you weren't used to it, but it worked really well.

[Zio]

Right off of the top of my head, the obvious ones that stand out are:

- Kung Fu Master, NES

- Action Fighter, Master System

Both fantastic console games but really average arcade games, especially in the case of Action Fighter, which is leaps and bounds better than the arcade game.

Edit: Of course, Kung Fu Master was simply called Kung Fu on the NES, but it's the same game.

[super_quincy]

Action Fighter was one of my first MS games,a great mixture of Spy Hunter and Xevious. I still play it now!