Given our retro focus, what are your favorite console ports? In the NES era you had arcade developers make great console ports such as Contra.
My favorite console port is Tekken 3. It destroys the arcade version in content and extras. Sadly it is not PSN like it prequel. I’m guessing the Gon license is too much a hassle.
Contra NES, Gaunlet Legends N64, and Turtles in Time come to mind for me personally, as versions where I prefer the console ports to the Arcade version.
SoulCalibur for Dreamcast blew my mind. It’s the best arcade port for its time in my opinion
Yeah not too many when the console version is actually better. Even Tekken 3 is graphically downgraded. Soul Calibur was upgraded which was crazy times. Contra is surely the gold standard as it’s truly a vastly better game, but it’s also re-written from scratch.
You have Street Fighter Zero 3 where the Saturn version is pretty much definitive, as the original has far less characters, and the Dreamcast based arcade version with the extra characters is a bit borked timing and spacing wise.
Actually quite a few Dreamcast games - eg Crazy Taxi is 1:1 but with extra modes.
Contra(NES), Super C, Turtles in Time, Knights of the Round, The Combattribes, King of Dragons, Bionic Commando, Double Dragon 2(NES), Tekken 3, Soul Calibur, Crazy Taxi, Double Dragon 3(NES), Punch Out, UN Squadron, Golden Axe(Sega Genesis).
I think Gradius II on PCECD is better because of the more refined hitboxes for the shield, nerfing the FUCKING ICE CUBES and the extra stage.
Always where my mind goes when thinking about great console ports of arcade games.
Double Dragon 3 absolutely.
Golden Axe no way though, the Mega Drive one looks like shit, colour wise.
I’m a fan of the Genesis’s extras features though!=p
What did Knights of the Rounds and King of Dragons have extra?
It’s been a long time since I played those, but I preferred the sound(arcade King of Dragons was in mono while SNES version was stereo) and controls of those ports, definitely for Knights of the Round. Plus the ending is different for each difficulty in Knights of the Round.
Knights of the round for Snes has an inferior soundtrack I’ll tell you that much. The CPS version is God tier
First one that comes to mind is the NES version of Jackal (Top Gunner).
I didn’t like the arcade version very much, but the NES game is one of my all-time favs.
I think Sunset Riders on SNES added a level or two. But it put more clothing on, so it’s a toss up what’s better.
Edit: can’t find any references to an extra level but this is from Hardcore Gaming
That’s interesting as I adored the arcade game but haven’t ever really played the NES game. I guess I need to rectify that?
A lot of good examples of Arcade to Console ports that are Superior, but what about PC to Console? Not as common maybe, considering the limitations of consoles vs PCs a lot of the time, but a few pop out at me.
Shadowgate / Deja Vu / Uninvited on NES vs their original Mac releases. Whereas the original releases run in a higher resolution, I always found the interface very clunky on computer, with multiple windows opening up to store inventory, and dragging and dropping items to use things. Many scenarios in these games gave you only one “move” to react to a dangerous situation, and it was very easy to accidentally drop an item vs use it on something, resulting in your death. The Kemco ports simplified the games slightly, but kept their style intact, adding some great music to all three titles. It’s a shame the Deja Vu 2 port never materialized, though it did eventually get released along with the first game and Shadowgate on GBC as another great port.
Rise of the Dragon on Sega CD is another great port. The PC game is a really fun Blade Runner esque Cyberpunk adventure that is pretty dark. It never got a CD-Rom release on PC, so the whole game is text based. When they ported it to the Sega CD, voice acting was added, and is extremely well done considering the year it was released, with Cam Clarke voicing the protagonist, who narrates the game. Whereas the PC original ran in 256 VGA, the palette was severely reduced for the Sega CD port. However instead of just trying to recreate the PC version, they instead changed the whole palette of the game, favouring a green hue that gives the game a very different, and maybe even better aesthetic.
Popful mail on PC engine/Sega CD are both better than the Computer releases imo.
I own the SNES version of Sunset Riders, and I can tell you that it did not add any new levels in it. But as for sound, some of the music is better in that version and the a.i. is tougher than the arcade as they aim at you better on harder difficulties.
Maybe I can rectify that for you if I win another RGB Battle 
It’s a good one for high score challenges… maybe a tad long on the high end for a playthrough, but it’s a great game.
Speaking of sound, the port added subtitles. So it turns out the first level boss doesn’t actually want to be married with his money.
Just buried.
Much darker.
RIP first level boss.
