Arcade ports better than the originals
Usually arcade ports are simply downgraded versions of the original games, and leave me with a disappointed feeling. But sometimes arcade ports are better than the arcade game itself. Usually because, I think in the case of the NES for example, that when the console is just so much weaker than the arcade boards they tried to redesign the whole thing into a good game on it's own rather than just make the same game with inferior graphics, sound and features. Consider the following NES ports-
Double Dragon
I actually enjoy playing the NES port of Double Dragon over the arcade game (Not that I dislike the arcade game) because I think the control is a little better and there's more stuff to do; navigating through the cave in mission three, ride elevators and whatnot in mission 4, and it's shorter. The arcade game tends to get a little repetitive to me.
Same goes for Double Dragon II, the NES game had lots of stuff to do- the helicopter, the train, the mansion, jumping around on gears and conveyor belts in level 7, the arcade game was pretty much Double Dragon all over again.
Contra
I'm probably just biased here considering how much I loved Contra on the NES, it just seems a little more... focused. They're actually quite similar except the NES port seems to have a little more strategy involved. And the game is a little longer, for example stage 3 in the arcade game was "jump up a few steps, shoot the boss a couple times and you're in stage 4." The NES version was more eventful. Plus, a side scrolling platformer with a vertical monitor? The NES' horizontal orientation had a more natural feel to it.
Bionic Commando
I'm pretty sure the arcade game came first, and the NES game may be more of a sequel than a port considering you have to save Super Joe (The hero of the arcade game) but they share the same name so I'll consider it a port. The Bionic Commando NES game (Or Hitler No Fukkatsu or whatever you want to call it) was alot more involving than the arcade game, you had to chose paths, find "key" items, collect weapons and deal with those transmitter communications. And you got to see Adolf Hitler's face explode in with all the wanton gore an 8-bit machine could display in 4 colors.
Ninja Gaiden
This one is obviously not really a port, but it's certainly worth mentioning. Fantastic platformer with one of the best stories in a video game (I think) that's a lot more fun than an average beat-em up. Of course, if you want a beat-em up Ninja Gaiden wasn't too bad.
Strider
I'm not really sure about this one; while I like how the progression of the game goes along with a pretty cool story, and you have more items and weapons and stuff along with a little more exploration element, the play control wasn't half as good as the arcade game. But I do find it to be just a little more fun to play.
UN Squadron\Area 88
I loved the arcade game and the SNES port was even better; you got to have multiple special weapons, choose paths, a much bigger selection of planes which you could buy and switch out in the middle of the game...Capcom gave you a lot of fun stuff to do as compensation for the inferior graphics and sound.
As you can see, most of the ports I can think of are for the NES, because that's the only console I was really familiar with during that time. I'm hoping the rest of you can add to this with Sega, C64 or Amiga, etc. arcade ports.
What do you think, sirs?
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Originally Posted by The-Bavis
