Ghegs wrote:I nominate Konami's Jackal, which is doubly interesting because not only is the arcade original different from the NES release, the Famicom Disk System version is also notably different from the NES one.
iirc the fds game is more like the arcade game (i seem to recall it basically being one extremely long stretch, like the arcade game, rather than the distinct levels that the nes game is broken into).
the nes game is one of my favorite games, honestly! real good stuff. i came into this thread to mention it, if no one else had. i love the dynamic that having one of your guns be fixed-fire and the other be free-fire creates - radically unexplored idea in the free scrolling shooter genre, imho. classic konami production value & presentation, too. though the game goes far from unmentioned, i feel it's one of the most underappreciated konami titles of its generation.
check out this cool old ad pairing it with contra, the expression on the guy in the back is priceless!!
i'm guessing when the thread title says "8-bit" it means "famicom & sms," so i'll avoid tossing a bunch of pc engine stuff in on technicality.
BIL wrote:Haha, no, I think NES Gun.Smoke is cool!
ah, man, my cart of this one is bugged. it starts by switching the letter "O" to "G" at a certain point, then consistently continues to get worse. no idea what's up with it, but it's really funny how weird the written stuff starts to get.
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as for a few of my own suggestions that have yet to be mentioned (lots of stuff already gone over!) -
meikyu jima/kickle cubicle - the fc/nes port of this one is so ubiquitous that it's often forgotten it had an arcade port. bosses are totally different on the console version and i like the music & visuals quite a bit more. also features all-new post-game levels that are shockingly mean! i'm not sure how many differences there are in the ordinary stages, however. really quality top-down puzzle action frankly only outshone by the outstanding mole mania/moguranya.
legendary wings - i think this one only hit the nes, not getting an fc port. considerably easier than the arcade version, which i only briefly played around with years ago but have strong memories of feeling like it was too outright mean to be interesting. difficulty is likely a bit sedate for people here, but i enjoyed it quite a bit despite the incredible breeziness. horizontal stages are entirely retooled to be scrolling shooter segments versus the scrolling platformer action you see in the arcade version.
heavy barrel - never played the arcade version, but i actually enjoyed the fc/nes version of this a decent bit and felt it at least looked a lot more forgiving and had better music. kind of outshined by jackal, but from what i recall, a solid experience. also allows simultaneous co-op!
section z - alright, i've passed on several here that are notably different than their arcade versions i didn't feel were good enough to really bring up while skimming through my collection, but i've got to mention this one for feeling like an entirely different game. really strongly prefer the arcade version of this one because of the obnoxious maze elements fo the fcds/nes game, but if strider nes gets a mention, i'm tossing this in the ring.
is it worth bringing up the ganbare goemon series? it's a bit more like top secret/bionic commando where the fc game is more like a sequel of sorts.
gradius II - the fc version is totally retooled from the arcade version and very much has its own identity. although the difficulty has been neutered, i frankly prefer it. outstanding audio/visual work and a real genre stand-out on the famicom, which, at least in my opinion, lacks for great shooters when compared to its incredibly superb scrolling action library. this one is probably a little too obvious and only unmentioned for that reason, so far.
salamander/life force - same story as gradius II, though this is often seen as having a bit less to make it stand out. really excellent console version for its time, however! the most impressive shooter up to its release on the console and, like gradius, a huge landmark for its time. play the fc version if you can - the only transparent plastic fc cart i can ever recall seeing, and it has some slight additions making it better than the nes version. notable for having a pretty competent 2p simultaneous mode, too.
the tower of druaga - screen proportions are retooled slightly for fc, and there's the addition of an entire extra quest that makes everything uniquely different and more often than not quite a bit harder. keep in mind that its bonus quest is different from later ports of the game, though if you want to go full-on with your masochism, you should check out the ps1 port (arcade perfect for 1st quest, iirc) via namco museum - holy shit does its extra quest have some hilarious meanness. druaga is not what i would call a good game by any stretch of the imagination, but it's a pretty formative classic and i give it a genuine recommendation.
joust - adds some extra modes, has a different "feel" to it. i bring this up because it was one of a few different fc/nes ports that iwata worked on, and because it was a childhood favorite. he actually programmed the port for this
prior to the release of balloon fight but it only saw light of day a couple years later, which kind of confirms balloon fight as being joust "inspired."
more info on that, here. there were a few other fc/nes ports HAL did like this, too, iirc, but this one is perhaps most interesting.
star force - not really very different from its arcade version, but i bring it up for its historical importance. hudson porting this tehkan/tecmo shooter to the famicom was wiiiildly successful for them, and it spawned their landmark caravan shooting series, star soldier. worth playing (if only briefly, it's quite dated and ain't no xevious) to experience what was essentially the genesis of hudson's caravan shooting events.
there we go. a bunch of stuff. i tried to leave out the uninteresting or really poor quality stuff, and probably missed quite a few things that i've played.
i keep meaning to get back to posting in the scrolling action thread!! and the pick-ups thread, actually. been either too busy or too low energy. ah, the holiday seasonnnn~
edit:
fuck section z got brought up and i missed it WHOOPS oh well