Console Games that Should have been in the 'Cades

Post by **undamned** » Wed Jul 30, 2008 11:19 pm

I can't recall if we've ever discussed this, but, what home console games do you guys wish were arcade games?

For me, I can't believe PC Denjin never had an Arcade release. That game is so solid. I also think Gradius V was solid enough for an arcade release.

What games can you guys think of that have that rock solid arcade feel to them?
-ud

PC Engine Fan X! · Post by **PC Engine Fan X!** » Wed Jul 30, 2008 11:31 pm

For undamned,

I'd have to agree with you on the classic PC Engine Hu-Card cartridge of PC Denjin (better known as Air Zonk in the USA) would've been ace as an arcade PCB. The colorful presentation and super tight and highly honed gameplay would make it a stellar PCB title indeed. Not to mention more on-board memory on a PCB for even more detailed world of PC Denjin with some extra stages added, new power-ups & new end-stage bosses to spice things up. And finally have a proper high score table as well for posterity. ^_~

The Super CD-Rom release of Super Air Zonk wasn't as good as it's earlier Hu-Card formatted release. Why mess with such a stellar Hu-Card shmup hit and release a half-assed shmup title that is Super CD SAZ? If the same development team that handled the coding for PC Denjin/Air Zonk had done a Super CD-Rom2 sequel of the former, it would've been legendary and worthy of a spot in anyone's PCE/TG-16 gaming collection. Raising the bar for such shmup craftmanship for the first offering is a tall order to fulfill but it can be done for a sequel. Look at the big jump from Seibu Kaihatsu's Raiden PCB to the Raiden II PCB release. Quite a big jump to make in overall gameplay, mechanics & overall graphical presentation.

Even Irem took notice of the wacky and detailed aesthetics of PC Denjin and applied it to their own wacky 2-D hand drawn fighting brawler PCB called Yakku Kakutou League Man/Ninja Baseball Bat Man circa 1993. Plus, it runs off of a modified "In the Hunt" PCB setup.

Hudson Soft's Soldier Blade could've been awesome as an arcade PCB release as well with proper Tate and some cool cut scenes to jazz up the gameplay between stages. ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

8 1/2 · Post by **8 1/2** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 12:11 am

I've only played the original Air Zonk. What makes the CD version inferior? It's been on my "gotta get it on virtual console" list for some time.

Edge · Post by **Edge** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 12:16 am

I agree with Gradius V.
And also R-Type Delta and Einhänder.

PC Engine Fan X! · Post by **PC Engine Fan X!** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 12:24 am

8 1/2 wrote:I've only played the original Air Zonk. What makes the CD version inferior? It's been on my "gotta get it on virtual console" list for some time.

The original dev team that did PC Denjin/Air Zonk wasn't on-board for the development of Super Air Zonk, it was made by another dev team from the ground up. Now if Hudson Soft wanted the original dev team that handled Air Zonk's coding to do a proper sequel, they would've done so. Hence the "half-assed" port of SAZ that exists today in it's original PCE/TG-16 disc medium. The Redbook formatted music portion of Super CD SAZ is miles better than the BMG tunes used on the Hu-Card release, that is a given. ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

gameoverDude · Post by **gameoverDude** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 12:36 am

I agree on Gradius V. Gradius Gaiden wouldn't have been bad as a System 11 board release.

Also, I'd pick Thunder Force IV. The game mechanics don't really need to be tinkered with. Just improving the graphics to 16 or 32-bit arcade hardware standards, chucking in a couple cutscenes, and maybe adding a special difficulty setting beyond Maniac (give players a code to unlock that if they beat the game) would do.

Shame they cancelled the TG-16 arcade hardware. An arcade version of Gate of Thunder would've rocked, even if the redbook audio had to be replaced with a chiptune arrangement.

8 1/2 · Post by **8 1/2** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 12:36 am

PC Engine Fan X! wrote:
8 1/2 wrote:I've only played the original Air Zonk. What makes the CD version inferior? It's been on my "gotta get it on virtual console" list for some time.
The original dev team that did PC Denjin/Air Zonk wasn't on-board for the development of Super Air Zonk, it was made by another dev team from the ground up. Now if Hudson Soft wanted the original dev team that handled Air Zonk's coding to do a proper sequel, they would've done so. Hence the "half-assed" port of SAZ that exists today in it's original PCE/TG-16 disc medium. The Redbook formatted music portion of Super CD SAZ is miles better than the BMG tunes used on the Hu-Card release, that is a given. ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

I mean gameplay-wise, but I don't mean to derail UD's thread any more.

I'm Alec · Post by **I'm Alec** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 12:40 am

this thread was created so that I could say

Blast Wind

PC Engine Fan X! · Post by **PC Engine Fan X!** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 12:57 am

8 1/2 wrote:
PC Engine Fan X! wrote:
8 1/2 wrote:I've only played the original Air Zonk. What makes the CD version inferior? It's been on my "gotta get it on virtual console" list for some time.
The original dev team that did PC Denjin/Air Zonk wasn't on-board for the development of Super Air Zonk, it was made by another dev team from the ground up. Now if Hudson Soft wanted the original dev team that handled Air Zonk's coding to do a proper sequel, they would've done so. Hence the "half-assed" port of SAZ that exists today in it's original PCE/TG-16 disc medium. The Redbook formatted music portion of Super CD SAZ is miles better than the BMG tunes used on the Hu-Card release, that is a given. ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

I mean gameplay-wise, but I don't mean to derail UD's thread any more.

Gameplay-wise, SAZ is different from AZ in that you can choose a selected stage at the start of a shmup session. The arcade-like handling of the former is replaced with slower paced gameplay. The ability to change Air Zonk with his new team of friends results in some lack-luster combined powered up forms. The new coding team seems to have tried their best to match the original gameplay of AZ but can't quite pull it off. By carefull studying what made AZ mesh/gel so well, I'm sure they could've done a better job with the pacing and enemy placement. Stick with the original incarnation of classic PC Denjin/Air Zonk with it's slick 60 frames-per-second framerate presentation and you'll do just fine. ^_~

I'd have to say the the original dev team that handled the PC Denjin/Air Zonk port want to create a shmup themed game with Hudson Soft's Bonk franchise and they managed to outdo themselves on their first outing, especially on Hu-Card format. And infused with an arcade-like gameplay and crazy antics up the wahzoo, it succeeds. ^_~

A simultaneous two-player version of Air Zonk PCB sounds pretty good, doesn't it?

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

Ex-Cyber · Post by **Ex-Cyber** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 1:12 am

Omega Boost

jpj · Post by **jpj** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 1:12 am

gradius v was supposed to be an arcade release on taito type-x hardware, but konami didn't see it that way

i'd like to see some of the better recent arena shmups in arcades

PC Engine Fan X! · Post by **PC Engine Fan X!** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 1:21 am

jpj wrote:gradius v was supposed to be an arcade release on taito type-x hardware, but konami didn't see it that way

i'd like to see some of the better recent arena shmups in arcades

So Konami thought that Gradius V would do better on a home gaming console, the PS2? What were they thinking? Perhaps to save some yen on the eventual home console port if it was originally slated for Taito Type-X platform? That would be the eventual route if they did so.

I do recall that Konami did release it's Gradius III and IV as arcade PCBs before being ported to the PS2. I can the see how Konami decided to break tradition with it's fifth sequel, by skipping the arcade PCB scene and just concentrating on the home console market for the time being. It's all about making a profit on their intial investment, in this case, Gradius V. It would've have been more expensive to develop both a Type-X and PS2 port of the same name. Hence, the logic in going straight to the console port.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

indstr · Post by **indstr** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 2:05 am

Contra NES should have been the arcade version, and the arcade version should have never existed.

Ed Oscuro · Post by **Ed Oscuro** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 10:29 am

indstr wrote:Contra NES should have been the arcade version, and the arcade version should have never existed.

How about you should never have existed

You, and that worthless Rapid icon.

GaijinPunch · Post by **GaijinPunch** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 11:50 am

indstr wrote:Contra NES should have been the arcade version, and the arcade version should have never existed.

Stormwatch · Post by **Stormwatch** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 11:54 am

Eternal Champions, perhaps?

moozooh · Post by **moozooh** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 11:59 am

PC Engine Fan X! wrote:So Konami thought that Gradius V would do better on a home gaming console, the PS2? What were they thinking?

Something along the lines of "it's too slow-paced"? I actually agree that games like it shouldn't come to arcades; they're perfect for bringing the arcade experience home but not the otherwise. Playing it there would be tiring at best.

And I also agree that NES Contra is much superior to AC Contra. I don't remember being so disappointed with an arcade game compared to a port, ever. The sprites suck (the jumping animation is the most laughable piece of shit ever), the music, the pace — in fact, I can't think of a single thing the arcade version is superior for, except the difficulty (but I'd say Super C on NES amended for that quite nicely).

P_HAT · Post by **P_HAT** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 12:18 pm

Gradius V a too damn long for arcades.

MX7 · Post by **MX7** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 12:22 pm

P_HAT wrote:Gradius V a too damn long for arcades.

Post by **spadgy** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 12:40 pm

moozooh wrote:
PC Engine Fan X! wrote:So Konami thought that Gradius V would do better on a home gaming console, the PS2? What were they thinking?
Something along the lines of "it's too slow-paced"? I actually agree that games like it shouldn't come to arcades; they're perfect for bringing the arcade experience home but not the otherwise. Playing it there would be tiring at best.

I'm certainly inclined to agree here, and I'd say the same for Einhander, which Edge suggested as a game deserving an arcade release. I love Einhander, but I think its pacing isn't quite suited for the arcade experience.

That said, I'd love it as a PCB for a home Cab.

sven666 · Post by **sven666** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 12:53 pm

R-type Delta should definetly have been an arcade game imo.. it would have gone niceley on the same hardware as say Strider 2.

Yakouga 4 would have made a nice korean arcade release aswell

Cybernator and Super Probotector would have gone down niceley aswell.

i think Gradius 5 would have made a terrible arcade release, its way to slow (+1hour per loop and infinte loops? c'mon the ops would have gone nuts!)

moozooh · Post by **moozooh** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 1:05 pm

Judging from the demo, Subterranean Animism (Touhou 11), would likely make a good arcade experience on Hard or Lunatic difficulty. The latter is actually pretty hard, on par with many arcade games (I'd say Mushi Maniac mode is pretty close to it overall). The design would have to be touched up, but technically, it's very good.

MX7 · Post by **MX7** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 1:08 pm

I'd love to see what ZUN could do if someone chucked enough money at him to release an arcade game

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 1:25 pm

Galaxy Monkey

Herr Schatten · Post by **Herr Schatten** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 2:21 pm

MX7 wrote:
P_HAT wrote:Gradius V a too damn long for arcades.

Gradius V is too long period.

Post by **Shatterhand** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 3:23 pm

With some refinement, Battle Squadron could had been an arcade released in 89. I mean, I knew the amiga version, and I always believed that was an arcade port, I was shocked when I found out it was an amiga original.

mikwuyma · Post by **mikwuyma** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 3:27 pm

MX7 wrote:I'd love to see what ZUN could do if someone chucked enough money at him to release an arcade game

Beer.

orange · Post by **orange** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 3:38 pm

move 3 pixels: the arcade version

Turrican · Post by **Turrican** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 5:07 pm

saying that a game "is solid enough" to fit the arcade criteria is a misperception. Like assuming all the arcade games are so cleverly well planned to become instant classics, while console release all bugridden, score insensitive, and generally poorly designed.

I think a glance at Rob's arcade hidden gem thread is enough to see that no amount of "solidness" is required to release crap on a PCB instead of a cart.

320x240 · Post by **320x240** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 9:30 pm

The Genesis version of Undead Line.