One Ported Game?

[Black Tiger]

I suppose that what you were getting at is that everything a CD can do a HuCard can do providing the HuCard is big enough, and therefore I guess I guess some clarification is needed for this fantasy. In the real world SNES and Genesis carts eventually exceeded the size of even the largest HuCard on a regular basis. The largest SNES cart is literally double the size of the largest HuCard. So while Dracula X with shitty music and no other downside is technically possible on a HuCard, it never would have happened.

I read the question as written ("which game would you most like ported").  I didn't see that commercial feasibility twenty years ago was a prerequisite.

The SNES was better at everything that didn't need clock speed, and the Genesis killed them both in that territory.

Hahahaha!  Zeta made a funny!

If HuCards are being held to the same standard as SNES carts, then accelerator and compression chips could be added. Even if Zeta feels that PC Engine chip music is "shitty", some of the larger rom size could be used to keep the music mostly sample based.

Even if we were going to stick to "if a game was released on HuCard within the same market as actual history"... A six stage Dracula X with superfluous stuff cut would still be as good of a game gameplay wise and still look great and still crush other console Castlevanias of the time. Parodius Da sounds good to me, why couldn't an all-WSG/Sound Box/whatever soundtrack of Dracula X?

[Arkhan]

The PSG rules you all.

[esteban]

Follin did by far the best bionic music ever created. So why not on the PCE as well. Would love to hear him squeezin' the PCE to max level.

What spenoza said.

What Tats said.

[Liquid Snake]

TMNT (arcade) or Metal Slug!

I don't think Turbo Duo can handle metal slug (not even PSX can do Metal Slug port properly...)

[vestcoat]

I'd like to see a port that
a) pushes the limits of the system.  Something like Wolfenstein.
or
b) something that wasn't done justice on other home consoles. 

I'd probably go with Ultima V because the NES version is almost unplayable.

I would love the arcade version of Time Soldiers (SNK) on our beloved machine.

I love Time Soldiers.  It's one of my favorite SMS games and what I've played on MAME was pretty fun as well.

[Sadler]

TMNT (arcade) or Metal Slug!

I don't think Turbo Duo can handle metal slug (not even PSX can do Metal Slug port properly...)

You're probably right, though I wouldn't mind seeing what could be done. I realize that the amount of people capable of playing this configuration is approximately 0, but I think it'd be awesome to see what could be done with the supergrafx and arcade card operating in sweet sweet harmony. I'd settle for a Contra game, there just aren't any great side scrolling run 'n guns on the system..

[SignOfZeta]

I don't think PSG music is shitty, I just think that having CD music added a lot to Dracula X.

But here is an honest question, what would the actual point be (ie: other than brand loyalty) of porting something to PCE rather than SNES or Genesis if CD is not an option? Are there any real technical advantages that a normal gamer would actually be able to detect? I'd like an answer here, and if the only responses require a flurry of cherry picked screen shots from emulators then...you don't understand the question, or what a "normal gamer" is.

[Arkhan]

PC Engine has noticeably more vibrant color than the Genesis.  I detected that even when I was 6 years old.  Lots of Genesis games are pretty washed out and ditherific.  One of the prettiest Genesis games to me is still Phantasy Star II.  I like it more than 3 and 4.  3 is dithered to the max, (but still my favorite PS game)

Other than that, the PCE is at a disadvantage, really.  One background layer makes doing some things a bit painful.

If you sit nicely done PSG tunes next to the Genesis, depending on preference, it's at an advantage there.  The stereo effect in games like Dungeon Explorer should be easily noticed by even the doofiest of people.

[Black Tiger]

PC Engine has noticeably more vibrant color than the Genesis.  I detected that even when I was 6 years old.  Lots of Genesis games are pretty washed out and ditherific.  One of the prettiest Genesis games to me is still Phantasy Star II.  I like it more than 3 and 4.  3 is dithered to the max, (but still my favorite PS game)

Other than that, the PCE is at a disadvantage, really.  One background layer makes doing some things a bit painful.

If you sit nicely done PSG tunes next to the Genesis, depending on preference, it's at an advantage there.  The stereo effect in games like Dungeon Explorer should be easily noticed by even the doofiest of people.

The positioning of the sound effects in Dungeon Explorer stood out to me right away back in the day. It was one more nice touch.

[SignOfZeta]

To answer my own question: a colorful shooter with lots of sprites. The SNES sucked horribly at shooters. Of the ones that exist, almost all of them are low on sprites but still exhibit slowdown.  The Genesis easily handled them, but had shit for color.

So, other than that? Um...a five player tap instead of four?

[Arkhan]

well to be fair then,

more vibrant colors and sprites, and very nice stereo effects are pretty good reasons to port a game.

I'd be curious to see how a game like Battletoads would've turned out on the PCE

[SignOfZeta]

I don't think an average gamer would be wowed by the PSG in comparison to the SNES's sound chip. Most people (ie: not rabid PCE fanboys or retro enthusiasts) will take the SNES chip any day. It can certainly do "stereo effects" just fine, with or without tons of reverb.

So basically it would have to be color intensive (beating the Genesis) and CPU intensive (beating the SNES) to make sense.

[Necromancer]

So basically it would have to be color intensive (beating the Genesis) and CPU intensive (beating the SNES) to make sense.

Does porting a game to any of the three really make sense unless one is a fan of the hardware?  If someone picks a platform solely for its perceived technical prowess, then why not pick something infinitely more powerful like a Dreamcast or a PC?

[SignOfZeta]

You have a point, for sure. But if that logic is taken too far you end up with a lot of Spectrum and 2600 shit.

[Black Tiger]

But here is an honest question, what would the actual point be (ie: other than brand loyalty) of porting something to PCE rather than SNES or Genesis if CD is not an option? Are there any real technical advantages that a normal gamer would actually be able to detect? I'd like an answer here, and if the only responses require a flurry of cherry picked screen shots from emulators then...you don't understand the question, or what a "normal gamer" is.

The PCE's inner workings make it good at animating fast compared to the SNES and Genesis and it can toss around large sprites easily. The SNES' 2-sprite-sizes seems to have limited the sizes of object sprites in genres like street fighting games. I can only find a single frame of player animation from SFII which would take up as much as 128 pixels of arcade screen-proportionate width in the PCE's 336 pixel wide resolution and it's mid-attack. High end street fighting games are also detail intensive within only a screen or three, which is the biggest Achilles heel for the Genesis and the biggest strength of the PCE. The PC Engine's strengths combined with the weaknesses of the SNES and Genesis, make it the best suited of the three consoles for graphic intensive street fighting game ports. Good quality (for the time) sound samples are also a PCE strength and a staple of street fighting games. Street Fighting games were the most popular genre of the 16-bit generation and "normal gamers" loved them.