East versus West Retro Games

[Team Andromeda]

The best Japanese arcade and platform style games on computers and consoles were better than their Western equivalents on the whole, and I don't care what anyone says. Western devs didn't seem to be able to produce a good scrolling shooter to save their lives (the much vaunted Xenon 2 sucked IMHO), and a lot of Western platformers relied far too much on using trial and error gameplay mechanics to add difficulty rather than simply making the game enjoyable. To be fair a lot of Japanese games were overly frustrating too, but it seems that more got it right than in the west. It just feels to me that for traditional games the Western dev houses didn't seem to move on very quickly from the way the earliest games played. It tended to be the Japanese devs that actually pushed gameplay design.

I just think that's being unfair and a bit silly , of course they're certain genre of games that Japan or America do better . I never seen any Japanese Flight Sim , or Point and Click that could match what Western developers were doing for example , I don't think that meant Japanese sucked in the 8 or 16 bit days , just that both cultures excelled in different aera's.

I actually thought Battle Squadron was one of the best 16 bit shooters I played , Aladdin on the MD much better than its Japanese Snes Counterpart, I really enjoyed the likes of Mickey Mania, and when it came to sports games , The west was in a different class ...
I'm sorry SNES and MD owners can bang on about ISS, but Sensi pissed on them and any other football made since really, and did it get any better than Californian Games , EA Hockey , PGA Golf III ? Not to me it didn't , and I also thought, when it came to 16 bit and 8 bit races , the West was way out in front as well .

[nakamura]

Aladdin on the MD much better than its Japanese Snes Counterpart.

I don't agree and have never seen the fascination with this. The MD game was spongy to control with dull levels. I found the SNES much sharper and more interesting to play. The MD game just had better animation.

[JazzFunk]

^I second that. The SNES Aladdin - bar it being a bit/VERY! easy - is touched by Capcom greatness, and has some truly wonderful, magical graphics. It also plays better than the MD game (in my humble opinion).

The MD one - whilst very cartoony and swish - feels more like an identikit Dave Perry/Shiny platformer, I'd pop it in the same 'subgenre' as Global Gladiators and Earthworm Jim. All mouth and no trousers.

As for X-Out on the Amiga, I really liked that game and its sequel ("Z-Out", iirc?)

[JazzFunk]

I also thought, when it came to 16 bit and 8 bit races , the West was way out in front as well .

Yeeeeah. Course it was....

("Gentlemen, prepare the padded cell!")

[Mayhem]

Anything by Geoff Crammond for starters... are there ANY good Japanese racing games for 8-bit? My brain goes blank currently...

[JazzFunk]

Sorry, I thought he meant 'races' in terms of comparing both East and West in the 'tech race'. Racers. I get ya.

("Gentlemen, seal the padded cell!")

[Silanda]

I'm sorry SNES and MD owners can bang on about ISS, but Sensi pissed on them and any other football made since really, and did it get any better than Californian Games , EA Hockey , PGA Golf III ?

Depends which version of sensi you're talking about. SWOS is one of those games that I had fond memories of yet think is complete garbage now.

[Team Andromeda]

Yeeeeah. Course it was....

("Gentlemen, prepare the padded cell!")

Geoff Crammond just pissed on most , so did Batman Returns on the Mega CD . Add in the likes of Stunt Racer , Lotus II , Jaguar XJ 220 , Road Rash, I also used to love the like of Lombard RAC Rally - even though it's horribly dated now . The only Japanese 16 bit races I liked and rated was F-Zero and Super Hang-on, and I really can't think of many great Japanese 8 bit races , maybe Enduro Racer and World GP on the Master System ?

Depends which version of sensi you're talking about

The Mega Cd version , which me and my mate still play , and its absolute perfection . With the best controls (thanks to the MD pad) and best headers seen in any football game. I don't think EA Hockey on the MD has been bettered either

[samanosuke]

I don't agree and have never seen the fascination with this. The MD game was spongy to control with dull levels. I found the SNES much sharper and more interesting to play. The MD game just had better animation.

I've always thought the exact opposite - the SNES version of Aladdin has always seemed a bit run-of-the-mill to me, whereas I found the MD version to be bloody fantastic both technically and gameplay-wise.

[Team Andromeda]

I've always thought the exact opposite - the SNES version of Aladdin has always seemed a bit run-of-the-mill to me, whereas I found the MD version to be bloody fantastic both technically and gameplay-wise.

Yep agreed . I found the Snes version slow and boring , where as the MD was fast and fun and just got better with each level . Technically it was in a different league too

[Strider]

The Mega Drive version of Aladdin is much better than Capcom's game. That is all.

[Silanda]

The Mega Cd version , which me and my mate still play , and its absolute perfection . With the best controls (thanks to the MD pad) and best headers seen in any football game. I don't think EA Hockey on the MD has been bettered either

I would tend to agree with the Mega CD version of Sensi, it is awesome.

[Baseley09]

Geoff Crammond just pissed on most , so did Batman Returns on the Mega CD . Add in the likes of Stunt Racer , Lotus II , Jaguar XJ 220 , Road Rash....

It's not really that cut & dry.....Outrun, Super Hang On, Chase HQ....there are plenty more.

The Master System version of Hang On was awesome to boot!

[Team Andromeda]

It's not really that cut & dry.....Outrun, Super Hang On, Chase HQ....there are plenty more.

I thought the 8 bit and 16bit Home ports of OutRun , Chase HQ were complete crap on all systems (The Arcade versions were a different matter ). Super Hang -On was brilliant though , with a consumer mode that was way ahead of its time

[samanosuke]

I thought the 8 bit and 16bit Home ports of OutRun , Chase HQ were complete crap on all systems (The Arcade versions were a different matter ). Super Hang -On was brilliant though , with a consumer mode that was way ahead of its time

Have to disagree... The MD and PCE versions of Outrun were pretty decent and Chase HQ on the Speccy was amazing given the hardware, but I'm with you on the Western devs having a higher overall output of quality racers back in the 8-bit/16-bit eras.