WelshMegalodon wrote:
EmperorIng wrote:If we are talking about arcade imperfect, than the PCE Tower of Druaga is about as imperfect as they can come: in that they took all the original game's imperfections and made them into a good game! A great game even.
You're the only individual I've seen to vouch for the quality of this conversion, other than Kino in a
post from two years ago. (HG101 doesn't count.) Sounds interesting!
Also mentioned by Kino is the PC Engine port of
Marchen Maze, which was more different from the arcade than I remember it being... I believe kitten recently expressed her approval for those tweaks and claimed it improved the game.
Speaking of Namco, would
Marvel Land MD and
Xevious: Fardraut Densetsu also qualify? I seem to recall a few people liking the former, and a handful namedropping the latter.
I'll always trumpet the virtues of Tower of Druaga's PCE remake. The game has just about everything I want from the concept: lots of enemies with different tactics needed for them, strange pseudo-bump combat/pac-man RPG, secrets to engage me and force me to figure things out (or die), and the convenience of not having a run royally screwed due to stiff controls, walking speed, or bastardly RNG. Adding to its own charming quirks like shield positioning being dependent on whether your sword is drawn or not... So much in such an early game! It's not a game I've ever attempted to 1CC, but it's quite satisfying.
I haven't played the original Marchen Maze, but the PCE port is fun. I think just about any time you change an isometric platformer into a top-down one you are going to get better results, ha. The game is deceptively cruel with its conceit of enemy shots knocking you all over the place.
I don't know how imperfect Marvel Land is from the arcade in terms of stage layout, but it added features that make the game more enjoyable: namely the fun new boss fights instead of them all being Rock-Paper-Scissors duels. You lose the cool-looking roller-coaster visual effects, but the game is solid through-and-through.
Xevious: Fardraut Densetsu has (according to Perikles) a near-perfect arcade adaptation. The Fardraut mode has some neat ideas (as it is really its own game), but it frustrates more than anything else. The game has a lot of sloppy oversight: enemies belching bullets onto the field, with the expectation that you tank them with a randomly-dropped (!!!) shield icon, or destroy them early. I cleared it, but by the end of the game my patience was at its end, especially with the final checkpoints. Really, it's a dice roll: get the shield and you'll survive the last boss.
WelshMegalodon wrote:According to HG101,
Dragon Buster FC adds new items and an experience bar.
Has anyone here played the original arcade game? All I know about it is that its flyer has
nice art and that it's occasionally credited as being the
first game with a life bar (even though
Hydlide had one first).
I have played the arcade original on Namco's Museum Vol. 2. It definitely has some strange charm, but it is a clunky and frustrating game. It solidifies Namco's reputation as a lover of air-juggles long before Heiachi terrorized the Tekken tournaments. Enemy mid-bosses will effortless fling your character up and keep him there for loads of damage, leaving you helpless (
something the NES game appears to do). You'd better kill them first! The game is a bit better when you learn how to stab (holding down and attack as you fall, IIRC), which does more damage, but some of the mazes are chock-full of enemies waiting to deplete your life bar. I'd be curious if Dragon Buster was improved on any of its ports. According to videogameden,
there do seem to be plenty of updates/changes, but the site's reviewers can be ambivalent on their merit or quality which makes me reserve judgment. The whole game got rebooted into a (imo) middling beatemup/hack-n-slash Dragon Valor on the PS1...
On MD they could be inconsistent, but the more acclaimed stuff does tend to deliver.
