Battle of the Ports

[Nu-Eclipse]

I agree that technically the Capcom gen 4 version is the best home port but for actual game content it's the Mega Drive.

Sorry, even that's highly debatable. You get a fair amount of extras in the Capcom Gen 4 port, no? (artwork, detailed game history, etc.).

The Original mode in the MD port is nice but it isn't massively different from the OG Arcade mode. It ultimately makes no odds. And no 2P/3P co-op is still a dealbreaker after all this time.

Still Capcom Gen 4 version for me.

[Yakumo]

Fair enough Just as well I have both. The MD version will always have a special place in my heart though as it was the first version I ever played.

[Team Andromeda]

Mega Drive is the best version me

[Nu-Eclipse]

Fair enough Just as well I have both. The MD version will always have a special place in my heart though as it was the first version I ever played.

That's cool.

Again, I should underline that the MD version isn't a rubbish port - far from it. That too was the first version of MERCS that I ever played. But once I actually played the coin-op, there was no going back.

[Leon Retro]

I agree that technically the Capcom gen 4 version is the best home port but for actual game content it's the Mega Drive.

I personally wouldn't add X68000 & arcade ports on compilations for the PS1, Saturn, and modern retro collections, to the list of home ports, as they are - especially on the PS1 & Saturn onwards - arcade perfect(or near). It would be like playing MAME and saying that has the best version of any '80s and '90s coin-op.

To me, ports are all about arcade games running on lesser systems and seeing what devs managed to achieve. Mercs, for example, couldn't be arcade perfect on the Mega Drive, but it's a very nice conversion with an extra mode. It's better than the Amiga version.

Just my thoughts.

[Yakumo]

Hmm, I understand where you are coming from but i feel they are still valid because they are not emulation. This is one of the main reasons why I don't cover many of the later PS2, Xbox and upwards ports as they basically are emulated. The Saturn and PlayStation versions are running on a unique engine built for the system, not emulating the arcade code.

[QualityChimp]

Hmmm, there's a similar game to Mercs, but it's futuristic and two-player.

Main character has a massive shoulder-mounted weapon and a lot of tanks get blown up!

[jonathan_ingram]

Hmmm, there's a similar game to Mercs, but it's futuristic and two-player.

Main character has a massive shoulder-mounted weapon and a lot of tanks get blown up!

Shock Troopers?

[Asura]

I personally wouldn't add X68000 & arcade ports on compilations for the PS1, Saturn,

Why, though?

The Saturn/PS1 were powerful machines in certain respects, but not others. For instance, the Neo Geo games on the Saturn weren't emulation, they were genuine ports - ditto for the CPS-2 games like Street Fighter Alpha 2 - and they weren't arcade perfect.

Computer performance isn't linear, insofar as what consoles/computers can do vs age. For instance, the PS1 could run amazing stuff like Ridge Racer High-Spec, but have you compared the PS1 version of Doom to the PC version? It's dreadful. Ditto for the PS1 version of various Capcom home games; some of them, like Marvel Super Heroes Vs Street FIghter, had to be massively retooled to get them to work on the platform.

I really like it when Yakumo covers Saturn ports of much earlier games, because occasionally they're not arcade perfect and it's interesting to see why.

[jonathan_ingram]

I really like all the Saturn love that BOTP gives out

Don't go changing, speaking of which I really need to get a copy of Night Striker S

[QualityChimp]

Shock Troopers?

Good shout, but no.

The main guy is blue. Is there a "cyber" in the title? It's arcade, not Neo-Geo.

[buster_broon]

Act-fancer cybernetick hyper weapon?

[Gradius]

Cyber Lip?

Edit not neo geo

Devastators

[Yakumo]

I really like all the Saturn love that BOTP gives out

Don't go changing, speaking of which I really need to get a copy of Night Striker S

Someone has to give the system love. There are 100's of sites and videos that only ever mention the PlayStation versions of multiplatform games making it seem that the Saturn has no games This is were I come in

[nakamura]

PS1 Doom dreadful? Get out!

I like seeing the Sharp ports myself. Never played one so nice to get a look at how they run.