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What Original Gameboy version of NES games were better?

but in no way is it superior to any major console version of Rayman. Not PSX, not Jaguar, and especially not Saturn.

There is only one version that's inferior to Rayman GBC and that is the awful GBA port.

Edit: I saw your "major console version" too late, lol.
 
There is only one version that's inferior to Rayman GBC and that is the awful GBA port.

Edit: I saw your "major console version" too late, lol.

the GBA rayman game was the first GBA game I got alongside Mario Kart.

Good god what a disappointing port.
 
Vampire Killer is an MSX2 game, and the MSX2 supports both hardware vertical page scrolling (as did the MSX) as well as hardware horizontal scrolling by putting the machine into mode 4, then adjusting register r#18 to adjust scroll steps of 1 to 16 pixels per character, with each tile being 8 pixels and each character being made of two tiles.

Example of konami games scrolling horizontally: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcZJ64PgtgA

Vampire Killer uses page flipping because of design choice, not because the MSX was 'too weak to scroll tiles very well."
The design choice for screen flips in many MSX/2 games WAS due to the subpar background scrolling though. This was likely the case for Vampire Killer, Contra and even something like Dragon Slayer IV (which was identical to the NES version gameplay wise except for screen flipping vs scrolling). MSX had other advantages but in scrolling it was below what NES could manage with mappers.

Space Manbow does look great and holds up better than pretty much any other MSX series shooter. But even here in your video it's running off MSX2+ hardware, on a vanilla MSX2 the scrolling is jerkier. And even here it's not really on par with later NES stuff like Recca, Gradius II, GunNac or Crisis Force.
 
Good god what a disappointing port.

Yeah, out of interest I watch some footage right now and the compressed music coupled with the zoomed in gameplay want to make me cry,

No one should play this version and I'm glad that I experienced the Playstation version first.
 
Not to be confused with the Game Boy's all-new exclusive Battletoads (which was just called Battletoads), this one was a port of the original NES game.

Better music, sprites and they made the game a bit easier due to the smaller screen. The speeder bike part is still bloody tough, but more forgiving with timing.

That is enough to make it the better game.
 
sörine;139741264 said:
The design choice for screen flips in many MSX/2 games WAS due to the subpar background scrolling though. This was likely the case for Vampire Killer, Contra and even something like Dragon Slayer IV (which was identical to the NES version gameplay wise except for screen flipping vs scrolling). MSX had other advantages but in scrolling it was below what NES could manage with mappers.

Space Manbow does look great and holds up better than pretty much any other MSX series shooter. But even here in your video it's running off MSX2+ hardware, on a vanilla MSX2 the scrolling is jerkier. And even here it's not really on par with later NES stuff like Recca, Gradius II, GunNac or Crisis Force.

I have an msx2, not an msx2+. It still scrolls at one pixel on a stock msx2, its a hardware register. It is not in any way jerkier. The only difference between running on an msx2+ vs an msx2 is that the msx2+ can produce more sprites than an msx2, so use a column of black sprites on one edge of the screen to better hide the overscan scrolling effect. The scrolling itself is identical.
 
Rayman GBC is a very commendable port, terrific given the hardware

but in no way is it superior to any major console version of Rayman. Not PSX, not Jaguar, and especially not Saturn.
I hate Rayman 1 though, I find it impossibly hard, unfair even. The GBC game is much more balanced.
 
Interesting that Elevator Action was mentioned in the OP. I remember picking that up as a kid, not knowing anything about it and having a blast.

Also, while not a port, Final Fantasy Legend was pretty awesome at the time.
 
How dare you !

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Oh god. I did a quick playthrough of that game for my channel. It wasn't bad but good lord was it tough. I could not get past the chopper firing missles at you for 5 minutes.
 
How dare you !

VR05mTG.gif

I don't want to derail the thread but I just wanna say that I think Rollergames is one of the most underappreciated games ever and it saddens me that it hardly ever gets discussed. One of my favourite games from my youth and it still holds up. And yes it was challenging as all hell and that's a good thing. And the soundtrack was amazing.

That is all.
 
sörine;139741264 said:
The design choice for screen flips in many MSX/2 games WAS due to the subpar background scrolling though. This was likely the case for Vampire Killer, Contra and even something like Dragon Slayer IV (which was identical to the NES version gameplay wise except for screen flipping vs scrolling). MSX had other advantages but in scrolling it was below what NES could manage with mappers.

Space Manbow does look great and holds up better than pretty much any other MSX series shooter. But even here in your video it's running off MSX2+ hardware, on a vanilla MSX2 the scrolling is jerkier. And even here it's not really on par with later NES stuff like Recca, Gradius II, GunNac or Crisis Force.
Exactly, if it was so good at scrolling why did so many MSX developers make such a major (and often very detrimental to action gameplay) design choice.

I don't want to derail the thread but I just wanna say that I think Rollergames is one of the most underappreciated games ever and it saddens me that it hardly ever gets discussed. One of my favourite games from my youth and it still holds up. And yes it was challenging as all hell and that's a good thing. And the soundtrack was amazing.

That is all.
Have to agree with all that.

And can bring it back on topic! Skate of Die sucks on the NES. But on the Game Boy it became a Konami developed fun skate adventure game, very similar to Rollergames
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Bionic Commando was one I preferred on GB. Also, that GB Batman game by Sunsoft was great, I remember really liking the Batwing stage.
 
Not many games were direct copies, they were usually reworked with larger sprites.

Also, I much preferred the GB iterations of Kid Icarus and Metroid, but both are really more like sequels.
 
Rayman GBC is a very commendable port, terrific given the hardware

but in no way is it superior to any major console version of Rayman. Not PSX, not Jaguar, and especially not Saturn.

Huh, is the Saturn version of Rayman the best? I kind of always thought it was the Jaguar.
 
Huh, is the Saturn version of Rayman the best? I kind of always thought it was the Jaguar.
Jaguar doesn't have the redbook audio soundtrack, so I wouldn't think it'd count based on that alone.

Saturn and PS1 are neck-and-neck to my recollection, although the Saturn version has some extra transition effects between screens that give it a small bump over the PS1 version, I suppose.
 

That wasn't so much a review as it was just him complaining about everything in an attempt to be funny. There weren't even any legitimate complaints at all. I haven't played this game much myself even though I have a cart of it, but the things he complains about are mostly that the game requires some memorization of the levels and practice. Which is something that a lot of NES games do. On top of that he was also pretty sexist with some of those jokes as well as slightly racist in the end. Seems like a nice guy.
 
Exactly, if it was so good at scrolling why did so many MSX developers make such a major (and often very detrimental to action gameplay) design choice.

Because this was like 1986 and single-screen games were the norm, and even then many of the games you listed, like Gradius, are MSX1 games, not MSX2. Every MSX machine could play MSX1 games, but not the other way around. MSX1 specs were the lowest common denominator, hence most made games for that machine. Vampire killer, however, is not and MSX1 game. Its page flipping mechanic isn't a limitation of the machine, it was merely a design choice.

I've explained to you in detail exactly how scrolling works on the machine, down to the specific hardware register that handles scrolling, how about you substantiate your claims beyond that it's "bad."

That part, played it on PC.

The jaguar version isn't autoscrolling nor is the floor slick. I actually prefer the jaguar version because of that.

Jaguar doesn't have the redbook audio soundtrack, so I wouldn't think it'd count based on that alone.

Saturn and PS1 are neck-and-neck to my recollection, although the Saturn version has some extra transition effects between screens that give it a small bump over the PS1 version, I suppose.

It's not a neck-and-neck race, the PS1 version is undoubtedly the poorest major console release of Rayman. For one, it runs at the lowest resolution, and only displays 32,000 colors at once compared to the 64,000 colors the jaguar and saturn versions display. The PSX version is also missing parallax scrolling in many areas where the Jaguar version has it.

The Saturn version is technically merely on par with the jaguar version - it runs at the same resolution and pushes the same number of colors, but almost all of the art is completely redone on the saturn version, and many people think the saturn art looks better. Example:

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Jaguar version

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Same spot in Saturn version

A few of the later levels are also drastically different in the Saturn and PSX versions compared to the jaguar version, but the jaguar version has a few extra levels in general.

The biggest change, IMO, is that bandland in the jaguar version doesn't autoscroll, nor are the floors slick, so you don't have those levels where you're sliding everywhere timing your jumps. Instead, long jumping segments where you were expected to use your forward momentum to cross huge gaps are replaced by jumping puzzles over disappearing clouds (platforms).

I prefer the jag version of Rayman, but I can see how someone would prefer the Saturn version. The PSX version is wholly inferior to both, save audio vs the jaguar (and even then, the jaguar version has good music).
 
i remember wizards and warriors and a boy and his blob being better in the game boy version

Also nemesis (gb gradius version) was on par with the nes at least
 
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