"Arcade Perfect"

[babs]

Anyone of a similar age to me will know those two words all too well. They signified something so wonderful, so beautiful, the emotion can't be put into words. Whether it was a review claiming that a home port had reached that pinnacle of home conversion idealism, or a slack-jawed friend in total shock proclaiming the game they just played was "ar-cade-per-fect" - it's a phrase which held an awful lot of power.

So to those of you old enough to remember the quest for coin-op-at-home perfection, what were the first games you remember to be "arcade perfect"? Looking back now it may not be true, but which memories do it for you? What do the words mean to you?



I can't remember exactly which ones it was for me, but I remember being very impressed with Wonderboy on the SMS, and ashamedly at Street Fighter 2 on the SNES (japanese import running on PAL console) - oh how our standards have changed!

[charlesr]

Ridge Race on the PS1. Arcade Perfect I was told. Fired it up. OMG this is NOT arcade perfect.

[wheelaa]

Nice one. I remember reading in a mag back in the day about the difference in usage between 'Arcade Perfect' and the even more hallowed 'Arcade Exact'. Iirc AP meant (for the purpose of the article) 100% spot on playability wise and at least 90% the rest. AE was the 100% across the board.

Golden Axe!

[RBelmont]

well they used the phrase liberally back in the old days, but the first games i truly remember being so good i couldnt distinguish between the arcade were:

Xmen vs Streetfighter.............ps1()nnnnno i mean saturn
sfz3 saturn
marvel vs saturn
marvel super heroes saturn(with ram)
vampire saviour

all the rest(especially the older machines were clearly inferior)

[J0e Musashi]

well they used the phrase liberally back in the old days, but the first games i truly remember being so good i couldnt distinguish between the arcade were:

Xmen vs Streetfighter.............ps1()nnnnno i mean saturn
sfz3 saturn
marvel vs saturn
marvel super heroes saturn(with ram)
vampire saviour

all the rest(especially the older machines were clearly inferior)

I saw straight through all of those myself

[babs]

Now I think about it, the PC Engine was probably the first machine which had versions I really couldn't tell apart. New Zealand Story and Image Fight were awesome, and R-Type despite the two-cards thing.

[capcom_suicide]

R-type on the PC Engine (Only saw pictures)

My very first imported console, the Megadrive and a game called Ghouls and Ghosts.

We nearly wet ourselves.

The next big game I remember being perfect was Golden Axe, again on MD import.

Such happy days!

[dvdmike]

Marvel vs Capcom II was pretty spot on

[briareos_kerensky]

R-type on the PC Engine (Only saw pictures)

Nope, flickering and subtly different graphics make the PC engine port one of the best conversions, but not arcade perfect: http://hg101.classicgaming.gamespy.com/rtype/rtype.htm
(scroll down almost to the bottom of the page).

[eastyy]

how about games that were better then the arcade version?

like soul edge

[babs]

Soul Edge is a bit later than I was thinking about, arcades weren't the main (I say main, I mean best-ish) source of videogames amusement at that point.

[Wools]

There's never been an arcade perfect version of either Virtua Fighter 2 and 3. I need them!

The first arcade perfect game I thought was either Ridge Racer, Tekken 2 or Time Crisis. Going back to them today they are defenatly not Arcade perfect.

[eastyy]

wasent there some home games that were converted to arcades ?

[Nakano]

Nope, flickering and subtly different graphics make the PC engine port one of the best conversions, but not arcade perfect: http://hg101.classicgaming.gamespy.com/rtype/rtype.htm
(scroll down almost to the bottom of the page).

You're right, I used to practise on the pc engine at my cousins place and tried to do the same things in the arcade, but I couldn't play as well, maybe its the difference in controls, I don't know. But I was sure there was more than just graphics that was different, so I was a bit surprised when everyone was saying its arcade perfect, when its obviously not even though its a excellent conversion.

I think for me, it was the capcom fighters on the Saturn that showed what arcade perfect meant, but even then people still found little bits that are different, though it would be very difficult for a normal person to see.....

[Team Andromeda]

My 1st memories of game that more or less were Arcade perfect ( to my head) was Wonderboy and Choplifter, along with Time Pilots onthe CBS .

Then of course comes the Mega Drive with its near perfect ports of Strider and Ghost N Ghouls