20 Great Arcade Games with Terrible Console Ports

True Fact: Whether it's due to hardware limitations or the publishers just not caring, some ports are better experienced on their original hardware

Porting a game should be simple, in theory. You’ve got the actual game already made, and all you need to do is convert to different hardware. Well, there are actually a ton of factors that developers need to face when transferring titles to new homes. Namely programming architecture, a means of delivery, button mapping, and that’s before you consider all the added features that often get included when releases shift camps. Yet sometimes developers drop the ball so hard that they become legendary, and that’s what we’re here to look at today

In this video I explore in depth the history of arcades, looking for the best arcade games that have had the worst domestic conversions

In this video you will find:

• A side-by-side comparison of the worst console ports ever performed
• Specific clips of the same arcade scenes and their corresponding console version (in order to compare graphics, sound and gameplay)
• Information related to each game such as release date, developer company, game genre and system it was released on.
• Official game box arts with a 3D presentation.
• Educative and/or critical comments on the importance of the video game and why you should play it

Intro and Outro Music

0:00 Intro
0:15 Street Fighter II (Arcade vs Game Boy)
0:45 Golden Axe (Arcade vs PC Engine CD)
1:15 Primal Rage (Arcade vs Sega Genesis)
1:45 Cruis'n USA (Arcade vs N64)
2:15 Strider (Arcade vs Master System)
2:45 Pit-Fighter (Arcade vs SNES)
3:15 Altered Beast (Arcade vs NES)
3:45 Double Dragon (Arcade vs NES)
4:15 Time Killers (Arcade vs Sega Genesis)
4:45 Rampage (Arcade vs Atari 7800)
5:15 Sunset Riders (Arcade vs Sega Genesis)
5:45 Ikari Warriors 2 (Arcade vs NES)
6:15 X-Men vs Street Fighter (Arcade vs Playstation)
6:45 Pac-Man (Arcade vs Atari 2600)
7:15 Dragon's Lair (Arcade vs NES)
7:45 Final Fight (Arcade vs SNES)
8:15 Virtua Fighter 2 (Arcade vs Sega Genesis)
8:44 Athena (Arcade vs NES)
9:14 Captain America and The Avengers (Arcade vs SNES)
9:45 Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 (Arcade vs Game Boy Advance)
10:14 Outro

⚠️ All gameplay recording, game curation and opinions included in this video, as well as editing is completely done by me

Bits & Beats creates videos about the history of video games. In this channel you'll find comparisons, retrospectives, technical analysis, but, mostly, game curations with the idea of having an important task of preserving video games, and make them relevant to society at large.

Curation isn't just about digging up neat games, but it's also about preservation, interpretation, and using one's knowledge to make it relevant to people. With my videos I want older gamers to look back and remember the influence of video games on their lives, and new gamers to understand the larger context of the series they're playing for the first time today.

I put significant time and creative effort into each one of my videos, including research, digging into archives, playing video games and recording hours of footage, selecting specific clips, writing reviews for each title, and making a very careful video editing in the way to transmit both educational and entertaining values to my audience. Every video takes a lot of hours to produce, because I strive to give my audience a consistent, high-quality content.

Fidelity and preservation of the video games is essential in Bits & Beats, so the recordings are made with the highest bitrate quality. It is done this way to preserve original game look and sound through modern footage, with no superfluous additions. I recommend you watch the video at 4K and 60 frames per second to get the best possible viewing experience.

I hope you enjoy my videos and find them useful!

#BITSANDBEATS #arcadegames #worstgames

[BitsBeats]

I had to re-upload the video due to a small problem with the audio... I apologize to those of you who had commented before (although I encourage you to do it again!).

[DarkPuIse]

I dunno if it's fair to call Final Fight SNES a "terrible" console port.

It was Capcom's first game for the system, and the SNES port was nearly a launch title in Japan (one month after the console's release) and North America (a bit over two months after its release there). It was definitely limited by the small amount of cartridge space most games had at the time (it was only a 1 MB game!), which required cutting out a playable character and one of the five levels.

But you know what? Those things aside, and a few other minor issues (famous NOA censorship, some slowdown in later levels where lots of enemies/sprites are onscreen), the gameplay is actually very solid and pretty faithful to the arcade.

I'd love it if some ROM hacker took it upon themselves to expand the ROM, reinsert the cut content, and maybe even got the two player mode working - TCRF documented there's still all sorts of structures set up in RAM for two players.

It's not so much a TERRIBLE port as it is an INCOMPLETE one, I'd say. Capcom's maiden effort on the hardware, plus a pretty tight, near-launch window - and evidence that they clearly intended more but ran out of time.

I think they can be given a pass on that basis.

[davidcbeaudoin]

I disagree with a few of these, but many are spot on.

[RagingRowen]

I don't think NES Double Dragon is bad, it's just very derived from the original. The Atari versions would've probably been a better choice.

You also made a mistake and used Ikari 1 instead of 2 for its arcade clip.

[PsychomachineryEBM]

I disagree with Cruisin' USA, the port was real good

[OtomoTenzi]

Nintendo was never known for having really powerful console hardware... So, it's not really fair to compare the arcade version of SFII with the Gameboy version, for example.

[loganford]

I've heard that the developer of the Strider PC Engine version committed suicide because of how bad the port was. He also liked Collecting teddy bears and that's why you see strider with a teddy in ken:s background in Street Fighter Zero 2 as tribute to him.

[Aran_MD]

honestly, i feel that some are cheap shots. Of course 8 bit consoles have to make compromises on gameplay sometimes, not every game will be TMNT: the arcade game. But the one I consider most unfair is Sunset Riders. I am aware of the differences between SNES and Mega Drive, but the Mega Drive port is not terrible or bad. It is inferior to the SNES version, yes, but it's still pretty damn good!

[lucianonicolasgarcia]

Well, I have some different opinions. Dragon's Lair, while still a bad game, it is not a port but an entirely different game. Also, Double Dragon for NES is quite good actually, offers new things for the ones it takes out. I would not call it terrible. The Virtua fighter port is more unnecesary than bad really. As for Street Fighter II on GB, it is lacking, but the Mortal Kombat port is way, way worse. I agree on the rest.

[JohnTheWerewolf]

The NES port they used in this video for Ikari Warriors was actually a port of Ikari Warriors 2. They even produced the box art for it. And it wasn't too far off from the arcade version of Ikari Warriors 2.

[Nolasco.]

A lot of this terrible ports were actually very good imo.
Thanks for the video 😊

[Juanknes]

Double Dragon for the NES is really good. Not at Contra level, with a NES port better than the arcade, but a very fun game. DD2 is an amazing sequel.

[danmanx]

I partially agree with most of these. With consoles being so limited in the 90s, there's not much you can do with a fancy new arcade game that uses more CPU and more RAM. FYI, Rampage on 7800 was very inferior when you consider the NES version alongside it. Also, any 16-bit game that was ported to 8-bit....GOOD LUCK! ;-)

[edgarector]

"Primal Rage" for Genesis??? Really? That is a very good port, what's wrong with it? Far better than SNES one, with so much content cut from it. Strongly disagree here, Genesis version is a very solid port gameplay wise and graphically.

[Write-Stuff]

I get the feeling a lot of these were chosen merely by looking at how the graphics compared to their original counterparts. I also the get the feeling the reviewer wasn't alive when many of these came out. When you have that insight, it turns several of these games into technological marvels for their time.

[sghire]

Gotta cry foul on Double Dragon, Final Fight, Primal Rage, Sunset Riders, and Captain America. Those were actually pretty descent to good ports.

[FormalTreehouse]

What the...that's the best Golden Axe the proud PC Engine could muster? I didn't know about that one 'til just now.

[RdandTrk]

Oh man, I think the NES port of Double Dragon is the best of all the ports. It's true it lacks coop, but it's definitely the most playable in my opinion. It's interesting how views can vary so wildly. Thanks for the video!

[mauriciobraga]

You should see some ZX Spectrum ports of arcade games so you will see what the word terrible really means.... Try Double Dragon from ZX Spectrum, for instance. I can assure you will never complain from the NES version again.

[Whyteeford]

Have to disagree with the Cruisin port on N64 and Xmen vs Street Fighter on PS1. Both were great ports. Even Final Fight on SNES was great considering the hardware difference. Especially Cruisin since the arcade and N64 weren't much different at all when it came to hardware specs.