'Enhanced' Arcade ports or sequels

[Minwah]

I thought I would start a list here for either arcade ports (to consoles / computers) which enhance or at least add something of interest onto the arcade original.  Also, including sequels to arcade games which did not actually have an arcade version (if that makes sense!).

I'm doing this as I'm not really interested in having 'platform x' version of my favorite arcade games on my cab, unless they are an improvement over the arcade version.  For example, I don't want the Amstrad version of Final Fight as it is obviously poor compared to the arcade version (tho I loved it years ago).  However, Final Fight One on the GBA has some extra features (new characters etc.) so I am interested in that.  Also, the SNES has Final Fight 2 & 3, so I am interested in those (as there was no arcade version of these).

If you list a game please note why it is improved over the arcade or what is interesting

I'll start:

Final Fight One (GBA - nice extra features)
Final Fight 2 (SNES - no arcade version)
Final Fight 3 (SNES - no arcade version)
Final Fight CD (Sega CD - apparently great port with remixed cd music)

Gauntlet 4 (Genesis - arcade port with extra game modes)

Soul Calibur (DC - arcade port with extra stuff, arguably better than arcade)

[darthbane2k]

Final Fight Guy was not an improvement as such - the original SNES port of FF did not allow you to play as Guy, FF Guy did.

You forgot Mighty Final Fight on NES which was a kiddy/cute spirites version of final fight.

Final Fight 3 never made it past Beta did it?

Final Fight 2 on SNES was AWESOME and had the sister of Chun Li in it.

[Minwah]

Final Fight Guy was not an improvement as such - the original SNES port of FF did not allow you to play as Guy, FF Guy did.

You forgot Mighty Final Fight on NES which was a kiddy/cute spirites version of final fight.

Final Fight 3 never made it past Beta did it?

Final Fight 2 on SNES was AWESOME and had the sister of Chun Li in it.

Thanks for that...I don't know much about the SNES games yet (think I played them some years ago tho).  I'll remove FF Guy from the list.  Don't know if FF3 was released, but I know it is available

Oh, and I never saw Mighty Final Fight...I'll take a look into it...

[Marky_1979]

That nes version might have been a fun alternate in the day but don't think it would be valid in minwah's list as it didn't improve on the original arcade in any way.

Final fight 3 or Final Fight Tough as its also known did make it onto the snes although i have never played it myself,

There are also some very different games made by fans using the streets of rage engine Hyper Final fight 1 and 2 both very playable on mame.

But I could talk about Final fight all day would be more helpful if i suggested some other titles for this list before we end up with every version of Final Fight ever.

Double Dragon advance on the GBA

This had some very nice touches it combined the original game with extra- Enemies, moves and even levels plus graphically its been touched up as well as the addition of weapon's like numchuks, poles and other weapons not in the original arcade release.

Mark

[Marky_1979]

What type of game's are you into Minwah?

[Minwah]

There are also some very different games made by fans using the streets of rage engine Hyper Final fight 1 and 2 both very playable on mame.

I had a search for this and could only find a Beats of Rage mod...is that what you're talking about?

What type of game's are you into Minwah?

All of 'em really...but I do like these 2.5D scrolling figters like Final Fight I must say 

[Marky_1979]

Yes that right mate its based on the streets of rage game they did lots of different mods if you have problems obtaining the info pm me and ill send you a copy.

I must admit i am a big fan of Final fight, double dragon, Punisher etc im just about to construct my UAII based on a final fight theme

[SirPoonga]

You sorta could say NFL Blitz PC version as you can save season data without needing an N64 memory card

[Howard_Casto]

Slaughterhouse 2 and 3.... those weren't available in the arcade.

[Onji]

Rygar for the NES was COMPLETELY different than the arcade version, and better in my opinion.

[chemame]

Minwah -

What's interesting is that I used to be the same way, and lately I've turned 180 degrees on that... I make my 8 yr old see every platform version of games that interest him, mostly as a history lesson. He found my N64 mariokart, and I went back in time, showing him the arcade version of donkey kong, and how it evolved into dkjr, dkIII, super mario bros, then mario world, super mario world, yoshi, dkcountry, mariokart, etc etc etc exposing him to the entire nauseating mario franchise.

To my astonishment, he was so interested in all of this, he decided to do an essay about it. Before we were done, he had branched out to all ports dk (coleco, apple, atari, c64, etc)... and now his favorite thing to do is find all the ports of a certain game, asteroids or whatever, and compare/contrast the way it was done for each console.

Anyway... sorry didn't mean to get off topic. I do like your quest. I'll see if my boy has any thoughts on ports that ADDED... I think his general assumption is that they always suck somehow.

[Howard_Casto]

As much as I hate picking on a kid's perspective.  Super Mario Bros has nothing to do with Donkey Kong. Mario is still in it (actually at the time he was called "Jump Man" so not really) but that's about it. 

Smb evloved from the original Mario Bros. game, which was a spinoff of Dk and was the first game that included mario's basic gameplay mechanics.  So the two franchises evolved in parallel, one didn't evolve from the other. 


Donkey Kong country was a liscensing deal from rare.  Again, aside from sharing the same character, it has nothing to do with the original arcade games.  As a matter of fact, Mr. Miyumoto (spelling?), the creater of both the Dk and Mario francises, completely disapproved of the DkC franchise finding it to be repetative with mindless collecting tasks added in for busy work.  Long story short, if the mac-daddy of video games doesn't count it, we probably shouldn't either. 

Mario Kart, Mario Golf, ect.... are all liscense games.  Again, they little or nothing to do with the games from which the characters come from. 

Think of it this way.  Tom Cruise is in War of the Worlds and Jerry McGuire.  That doesn't mean the two movies are related in any way, it just means that he stars in both films. 

So don't think that all of these different franchises are related just because Nintendo pimps out their cash cow's likenesses and uses them to sell otherwise run of the mill games. 

[TalkingOctopus]

tekken 4+ ect..... most of which don't have an arcade port anymore.

Actually tekken 4 and 5 both were released into arcades.

[ddockery]

Howard, I see your point, but the games ARE related.  It may be a very loose connection, but it's there.  Sure, the gameplay didn't evolve from DK -> Mario Sunshine, but the character (whether he had the same name or not) IS in all the games.  The character is the connection. 

And actually, the Tom Cruise example was a perfect way to prove this point.  The movies have no connection, aside from the fact the Tom Cruise is in both.  There are hugs fans of Cruise that would watch both films for this fact alone, regardless of the actual script.  The same goes for Nintendo fanboys that will play anything with Mario regardless of how good/bad the game is. 

You're right about the gameplay not evolving from all of these games into the others, but it still makes for an interesting history lesson to go through all of these games and see what Nintendo did to whore out their mascot.  Personally, I find the comparisons of various ports of the same game far more interesting because you start to see how much better the less popular systems were for a lot of games. 

[chemame]

As much as I hate picking on a kid's perspective.  Super Mario Bros has nothing to do with Donkey Kong. Mario is still in it (actually at the time he was called "Jump Man" so not really) but that's about it. 

Smb evloved from the original Mario Bros. game, which was a spinoff of Dk and was the first game that included mario's basic gameplay mechanics.  So the two franchises evolved in parallel, one didn't evolve from the other. 

Naw, I didn't mean to imply that SMB was a direct sequel of DK, but your own statement above states what I was trying to show my son: the DK --> MB --> SMB etc. There's a tie that goes just barely deeper than one character. It's a whole themed thing. Most of the Mario franchised games contain elements that were in place VERY early on (I only wish they still had rolling and flaming oil barrels  ).

I tend to stick with the jump/platform mario games in the "history" lessons, because I enjoy the migration from controlling mario to controlling mario on yoshi to controlling yoshi directly, etc. Donkey Kong Country was an exciting year for me. Enjoyed that series a ton. Sure, the whole game could have been made with any characters, but instead the entire THEME was made around the mario phenomenon (doo-doooo-do-de-do).

In fact, I learned something in my poking around. Probably VERY common knowledge, but was new to me. Recalling DKC on SNES back in the late 90's... the intro is a geriatric DK playing a music-box thing with a dink-dink-dink tune. I didn't recognize the tune, just figured it was DKC theme music somehow. Then, not very long ago, while setting up an old console emulator (I think it was Atari 7800, but not positive on this), playing original DK, I heard that very same theme music, and had an "OH, I GET IT!" moment. By the way, where did that music come from? Was it simply introduced on a console port somewhere, or did it have a history before that?

OK, sorry for the tangent. Minwah started it. Blame him.

[Minwah]

Good stuff

Just thought of:

Golden Axe 2 (Genesis - no arcade version, excl. the MegaPlay/MegaTech ones)
Golden Axe 3 (Genesis - no arcade version)

(and I know about arcade Revenge of Death Adder, but it's not the same)

Edit: some more:

Choplifter 3 (SNES - no arcade version, afaik)
Arkanoid: Doh it Again (SNES - ditto, Arkanoid fans should definately check out)
Darius Twin (SNES - no arcade ver.)
Darius Force (SNES - no arcade ver.)
Darius 2 (Genesis - arguably more playable than arcade due to single screen)
R-Type 3 (SNES - no arcade ver.)
Super R-Type (SNES - no arcade ver.)
Q*Bert 3 (SNES - no arcade ver.)

[Howard_Casto]

Just something to note....

The pc ports of Gradius totally suck.  Actually any of the gradius ports totally suck. 

The only exception is the SNES port of gradius III.  It has additional levels and vastly improved graphics.  It actually is so much better that it makes the arcade version look like a port of it!

[TalkingOctopus]

Just something to note....

The pc ports of Gradius totally suck.

[Marky_1979]

Super ghouls n ghosts (snes)
Many paper boy versions think there was even a console sequel?
Out run on x-box
Virtua striker 2 (Ranking mode)
Virtua Striker 3 had a season mode and various other bonuses unlockable players and ranking mode