/vr/ - Retro Games

PC wins

N64 versions usually had better graphics, but cut down sound (eg, vigilante 8). the controller was also weird, so some games didn't work that well (tony hawk)

I usually preferred the n64 versions. Better graphics, framerate, no loading times

Why did they port RE2 to N64 and not RE1?

>>1894116
'cause N64 a shit.

>>1894103
>framerate

Yeah nah, Nintendo didn't want their multiplatform games looking bad and framerate was always expendable. Frankly I can't think of many multiplatforms on the N64 which also weren't different games altogether. Maybe RE2, but PS1 and N64 both have their pros and cons.

>>1894118
Cause RE2 was newer and more popular at the time.

>>1894120
meant to quote >>1894113

OP here. If this could be more about the facts of individual games rather than broad generalizations of each console that would be great.

no n64 port worth mentioning was ever even close to as good as the playstation 1 version.

saturn ports of 2D arcade fighting games were usually the best

Rayman Playstation vs Saturn was quite interesting

-Saturn had more diverse sprites (butterflies of multiple color vs butterflies of just one color on PSX)
-Playstation had some levels with an extra layer of transparent fog in the foreground
-Saturn had extra animation frames when crawling up slopes (Rayman is properly oriented)
-Playstation had better lighting effects in that lightning storm level, and the flashlight effect in that underwater level was better
-Saturn had an animated strobing sun in one level, it didn't move on Playstation
-On the Mr Sax level the Playstation had an extra layer of transparent parallax
-Saturn has really cool level transitions, Playstation doesn't have any
-Saturn has an animated title screen, Playstation doesn't
-The background in the battle against Mr Dark is a LOT more animated on Saturn than on Playstation, a massive diffference
-I can't explain it but some credits in the Playstation version are just the same as the Saturn, and some are 3D enhanced and better - I don't know why there is this difference

>>1894128
Shut the fuck up OP.
YOU DONT CONTROL US

>>1894142
What about Jaguar?

>>1894142
psx had better 3D hardware
saturn had more memory for textures and sprites

>>1894131
>no n64 port worth mentioning was ever even close to as good as the playstation 1 version

...Rayman 2? (Levels were chopped to pieces so it would run on Playstation)
...Shadowman? (Playstation version has a horrible framerate)

>>1894147
Haven't played that one
Sorry my friend

>>1894120
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FX6dgkn5EQQ

Not who you're replying to, but if you compare Tony Hawk 2 it's clearly running smoother on the n64. The ps1 version is a lot choppier.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmViSPAxLpM

Same deal with Resident Evil 2, the framerate is smoother on the n64 version (skip the fmv to the actual gameplay).


All that being said, I prefer the ps1 versions of both these games due to the better quality sound, and in my opinion they both control better with the ps1 controller.

You can't deny that the n64 processes 3d graphics faster than the playstation though. It's just a fact.

>>1894131

Glover
Vigilante 8
all Army Men games
South Park
Hydro Thunder
San Francisco Rush
Space Station Silicon Valley

all better on N64

>>1894157
I agree with all of these except vigilante 8. The soundtrack is just too good on the ps1. (Or is this only true for 2nd Offense? I don't think I've ever played the n64 port of the original.)

Nuclear Strike was one of my favorite PS1 games, and I thought the N64 version was just butchered.

Smaller maps, no FMVs, less voice acting, fewer missions (one particular map was removed altogether), and the game plays better with the PlayStation controller.

That said, the PC version (never played it) is probably the best.

>>1894157
>Hydro Thunder
>Worth Mentioning

>>1894159
For 2nd Offense, your best bet is Dreamcast.

>>1894159

The first Vigilante 8 soundtrack is way better on n64. The best version of 2nd offense is on dreamcast,

>>1894162
What's wrong with Hydro Thunder?

>>1894147
The audio is a lot worse on the Jaguar version.

>>1894160
I kind of liked how smooth Nuclear Strike looked on N64. But yeah, the FMV is the Strike series is pretty cool, so without it it's just not the same.

>>1894164
>The first Vigilante 8 soundtrack is way better on n64
That's a matter of opinion and I disagree with it.

Plus, on PS1 you can pop in a CD and listen to whatever you want.

>>1894124
It's also an infinitely better game

>>1894170
You can do that with any game which uses redbook audio.

>>1894164
Cool, I'll have to check that one out. I got cold feet on the series when I got 2nd Offense for n64 back in the day and the soundtrack was toned down, I brought it back and traded it for the ps1 version. I only ever rented the original and I've been meaning to buy it for years now.

>>1894173
Do they let you select tracks from the pause menu like in V8?

Unrelated, but, how does Vigilante 8 compare to Twisted Metal? Never played V8. (Also is V8 1 or 2 better?)

>>1894179
Depends, really. Otherwise it's semi-random I guess.

>>1894182
This is definitely subjective, but I think vigilante 8 blows twisted metal out of the water.

The gameplay feels more refined and fleshed out, the maps are full of secrets, you trade the edgy pre-teen metal tracks for a much classier mix of 70s and 80s themes that are completely original (and kickass), and the characters are overall more interesting.

I prefer 2nd Offense, it's a step up from the original.

>>1894194
Thanks man. How is the Dreamcast version? Is it a good port?

The n64 had very limited space on their cartridges. The biggest were 64mb, f.e. RE2. The PSX discs could fit 700mb I think.

That made prerendered cut scenes hard and they also needed to decrease things like texture and sound quality in order to get the size down.

But the n64 has more powerful hardware, so it usually has a better framerate and resolution I think.

>>1894201
I honestly haven't tried it, but it would appear to be the preferred version. I've only played the n64 and ps1 versions.

>>1894147
Nothing is good on the Jaguar

>>1894201

for 2nd offense it goes: dreamcast>n64>ps1

>>1894172
Naturally. RE2 is basically just a more refined RE1 set in a police station.

>>1894113
>cut down sound (eg, vigilante 8)
I don't find this to be a valid complaint when N64 soundtracks had this bizarre tendency to be much better anyway. The Vigilante 8 games especially. Did Nintendo have some sort of policy forcing developers to enhance/arrange their soundtracks for N64 ports or something? Because I can think of so many good examples of this.

>>1894131
>no n64 port worth mentioning was ever even close to as good as the playstation 1 version.
A vast majority of N64 > PS1 ports were total disasters.

>>1894251
>that draw distance fog
Holy shit.

>>1894251
Actually i prefer the look of the n64 version over the ps1

>>1894245
>Did Nintendo have some sort of policy forcing developers to enhance/arrange their soundtracks for N64 ports or something?
I think it was just limitations forcing developers to make tighter, more melodic soundtracks. The PS1 was defined by soundtracks which sounded nice, but tended to not stick in your head as strongly.

Look at another example - Turok 2 on PC has a more "polished" score, but the N64's chirpier version is more memorable.

>>1894257
I find Port of Adia and Death Marshes in particular noticeably nicer to listen to on the N64 version. Port of Adia feels more epic and inspiring, Death Marshes feels more ominous.

>>1894163
The Dreamcast and PS1 versions have identical soundtracks, the N64 port has totally different (and imo mostly better) music.

>>1894257
>>1894260
It's really just like MIDI vs redbook. It's easier to make nice melodic pieces in MIDI even if they sound more "primitive". When you go redbook you can fill your tracks with so much shit that the melody can get lost in all of it.

>>1894263
Definitely disagree, I like the soundtracks in the DC/PS1 better. So much so that I actually took the PS1 disc with me to school to play in my discman back in the day.

>>1894256
I think that's the point of his image. The ps1 port has nicer ground textures, but that doesn't mean much when you can't see more than 10 feet in front of you.

There's a reason not many n64 games got ported to the ps1. It just simply couldn't handle them. The n64 could handle ps1 games fine, provided the textures and audio were compressed to fit on a cart.

>>1894268
N64's got the funk that shits all over your grungy grindhouse shit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DALQCY9BWY

>>1894275
Sorry, not a fan of the way that sounds.

I did own the game on N64 as well as the other consoles, but I never liked the music.

>>1894269
On a technical level the PSX and N64 can handle a similar level of polygons (that is, while the N64 is also doing perspective correction, textue filtering, z-buffering, etc at the same time).

But the Playstation has a real problem rendering large polygons, like the sort required in drawing a really large open world, because the lack of perspective correction causes horrible texture warping if you try doing it. So to get around it you either have to avoid textures and gouraud shade the fuck out of everything, or draw LOTS of extra polygons to make up for it. But if you do that, then you've got less polygons for other things. Spyro did a mix of both, together with really aggressive LOD to get the polygons under control.

tl;dr; the PSX can't do open worlds as well as the N64, but is somewhat competitive in smaller environments

>>1894281
Interesting. I always thought the spyro games were really technically impressive. Hard to think of many other games on the system with big open worlds like that.

40 Winks was a fantastic PS1 > N64 port. Never officially released. But finished roms are floating around.
Some PS1 > N64 ports tried to improve gameplay. Nightmare Creatures, for example. Also, RE2 N64 with its new control scheme. Unfortunately, a lot of 3rd party ports were hobbled by devs/publishers lacking the money for larger cartridges, hence the lack of voice acting and such in several PS1 > N64 ports. (Or overcompressed audio.)

PS1 vs. N64 ports usually played better due to lack of loading times and better controls. Saturn vs. N64 ports... barely existed. Saturn ports of shmups at least tended to be better than their PS1 counterparts.

I think Pro Pinball is better on Saturn than PS1, but that might just be because I'm using component (via RGB) on Saturn.

>>1894293
PSX -> N64 ports usually suffer because to get good textures in the N64 you have to

1) Redesign your renderer around streaming textures out of the N64 texture cache instead of large pages out of the PSX VRAM, keeping in mind that the N64 RAM is high in bandwidth and high in latency

2) Redesign all the texturing of your level geometry - break large textures into smaller pieces (like 128x128 texture into four 64x64 pieces).

3) Find good lossless compression algorithms for textures, and lobby for the largest cartridge size

...but what happened with bad ports was

1) Squander the bandwidth advantages of the N64 VRAM, and keep pretending it is low latency like the PSX VRAM, completely buttfucking your system performance in the process

2) Just replace PSX 128x128 textures with N64 64x64 textures. No need for extra work! Bilinear filtering will save us!

3) Just use any old compression algorithm, nobody will notice the difference! Also who cares about using a large cartridge, it may shit on the game but let's get a small one it's cheaper!

>>1894306
*meant N64 RDRAM

>>1894293
>40 Winks was a fantastic PS1 > N64 port
What was so good about it?

>>1894627
>>40 Winks was a fantastic PS1 > N64 port
>What was so good about it?
They replaced the FMV with ingame cutscenes. Basically nothing was cut. You wouldn't know the game was a PS1 > N64 port.

>>1894716
And the in game stuff looked fine?

>>1894726
>And the in game stuff looked fine?
Not as slick as the FMVs, granted. But servicable.

Saturn had the best Resident Evil

>>1894731
PS1 FMV, to compare.

>>1894103
Gex and Glover were best on N64. For everything else, it's Saturn, or PS1 if it didn't get a Saturn port.

>>1894739
From memory Gex wasn't actually that good on N64. Think it had extra fog. Glover was better though.

>>1894131
The Tony Hawk games had pretty good N64 ports even if they were a year late.

Most Playstation ports of Saturn/ST-V games got the job done. Soukyugurentai, Puyo Puyo Sun, Silhouette Mirage and Grandia are slightly less smooth, but did add a few extra features.

Originally Radiant Silvergun was planned to have a Playstation port, but it was rejected by Sony. Since RSG was one of the very rare games which heavily used the VDP2, I wouldn't be surprised if it was because it simply wouldn't run well enough on the Playstation.

"There was a PlayStation version, but Sony rejected it," says Treasure head Masato Maegawa. "SCEA rejected it, and once it gets rejected it gets really difficult to make happen. I have a version of the game, actually... The paper I got basically just said 'rejected' on it.""Back then, SCEA was rejecting a lot of titles because there were a lot of games coming out. If you think about it, our title wouldn't be a massive seller, so I can understand why it didn't make the cut -- but it would have been nicer if SCEA could have considered it a bit more. Even if there are fewer people playing shooters, there is still a group of gamers that appreciates them, so I don't think they should have just eliminated the genre."

>>1894748
Nah they were pretty average ports. The fact they came out at all was the impressive part

This bad boy was available on the PSX, N64, and Dreamcast.

The only differences I know of are that the PSX/DC versions have pre-rendered FMVs and the N64 version uses comic-book style freeze- frames to tell the story. The N64 version also doesn't include the "WhatIf?" mode. Damn cartridges.

>>1894103
Grab most Sega and Capcom multiplat releases on the Saturn. They were direct or near-perfect ports in most cases

Mega Man 64 was a lousy port of Legends

San Francisco Rush is better on N64 than PS1

As mentioned above, the Vigilante 8 games and Resident Evil 2 have better framerates and no load times on the N64 but suffer in sound quality, controls (personal preference), and lack of FMV's

>>1894752
I'm glad you didn't mention any fighters. I agree with the games you mentioned. Might want to add the Lunar games on there

>>1894763
NFL Blitz
Gauntlet Legends
Rampage World Tour
all on N64 over PS1

Road Rash 3D over Road Rash 64

Road Rash (3DO) received nearly identical ports to Saturn and PS1 afaik

>>1894774
Road Rash the 3DO version had some frame rate problems on PS1 I think.

>>1894776
I assume this applies to Loaded (Interplay) as well? I still prefer the PS1 versions due to the button mappings and controllers

>>1894795
Don't think so...ugh this is all from memory but the PSX won for that game.
I think Loaded had some ugly ass explosions on Saturn

Well I just played Rayman 2 on N64 and PS1 back to back and well...the results aren't pretty for the PS1.

Aside from the occasionally higher-res texture, the PS1 version doesn't have much going for it. It's missing the lighting system, transparent water, the levels have been gutted and recreated to be smaller and more empty, and texture warping is quite rampant. The weird thing is that it actually doesn't seem like that much of a lazy port, somebody actually had to go through and re-do all of those levels. And it still looks quite nice, more impressive than Spyro in some ways.

Now the N64 version is great, but does have the occasionally crappy looking texture (but not all, some look good). Actually I'd argue it has more texture diversity than the PS1 version since the levels are just...more complex, which on paper should be strange for a cartridge game. The slowdown is about the same as the PS1 I suppose. The PS1 version feels kinda slow everywhere, but the N64 version only slows down in areas that really big areas. Overall the N64 version even on low-res looks better than the PS1 version. Oddly enough it has a sharpness option. Setting it to 'Maximum' removes the famous N64 vaseline filter (caused by VI interpolation, right?), but gives textures like a checkerboard dithering, which is weird (anybody care to explain that?). In high-res mode, it utterly blows the PS1 out of the water.

PS1 version is still nice to play as a directors cut I suppose, considering how the levels have changed.

>>1894884
Shadowman? Now this is an example of a BAD PS1 port. The framerate is horrible, and a comparison to the N64 version would be insulting to the PS1.

Literally like, the PS1 does about 10fps in some areas that the N64 does a stable 30fps in HIGH RES MODE.

>>1894763

no, rockman 8 & x4 have hissy, low quality sound effects reminiscent of the genesis on the saturn

x3 on the other hand has a bordered native aspect ratio (instead of stretched) and better load times on saturn

>>1894739

the Gex games were much better on ps1. The n64 version of Gex 2 had an extra level, but was missing cutscenes.

I can't think of any games that are on all three platforms. The N64 was getting popular when the Saturn was on its way out.

>>1894964
It actually had levels cut. The one bonus stage was compensation.

>>1894967
I can only think of three - Duke 3D, Hexen and Mortal Kombat Trilogy

>>1894943
Just compared Vigilante 8 2nd Offense on N64 and PS1. These two versions really look damn similar, I can't really tell much apart between them. The music is different of course, but the graphics...

Well all I could tell besides that the N64 version has the usual less jittery graphics and filtered textures is that the PS1 version has a slightly longer draw distance, but that the N64 version had an extra reflective shiny map on the cars. The N64 high res mode doesn't really seem to add much to the graphics over the normal mode, but it does make the framerate worse so I'd leave it off.

All things considered, it's pretty much a draw.

bump out of interest

WO 64 or XL? Now there's a question.

>>1896472
Uh probably Wipeout 64. But Wipeout 3 over Wipeout 64.

>>1894776
>Road Rash the 3DO version had some frame rate problems on PS1 I think.
All 3DO games around that period were native to N64, I believe, with PS1 ports of varying quality.

>>1896734
Wait, what?

He means the version that originated on the 3DO console and was ported to Saturn and PS. N64 wasn't even out yet when that game was made.

>>1897093
I don't think Road Rash 64 was even made by 3DO themselves.

>>1896472

Easy.

>>1894943
Best version of Shadowman is Dreamcast
Pretty much any multiplat that came out for DC is better

>>1898615
Was the Saturn version actually superior? I remember hearing this before but don't recall why. I did prefer the Saturn version of the original Wipeout even though the shields were lattice effect rather than transparent.

>>1898637
Nah the Saturn version of Wipeout has a really bad framerate problem. Also the transparencies are broken.

>>1898621
I can't confirm this cause I don't own it, but somebody told me a long time ago that Shadowman on N64 has a better FPS than on Dreamcast, even though the Dreamcast graphics are better

>>1898661
I just said that. Don't recall the framerate being any worse than PS though. It's been a while.

>>1898661

OHH NOO. MUH FRAMERATES.

Gah, you downer-ass neckbeards with your stupid, pointless techno-babble have something to say about everything. I bet you think Ocarina of Time sucks, too.

>>1898637
Anyway, part of the reason I like the Saturn reason better is because of the 3D controller. The joystick on it is the best for racers. The music is also vastly superior in the Saturn version and frankly, I've always found the Saturn graphics great.

>>1898682
>OHH NOO. MUH FRAMERATES.
But it's a fact. We were comparing different versions after all. This can't just be about personal feelings about a particular version. For that matter, I think the Saturn version does have a longer draw distance.

>I bet you think Ocarina of Time sucks, too.
No I don't. What the fuck man?

>>1894209

That's not fair. Rayman was actually developed for the Jaguar and ported to everything else. In a purely subjective and qualitative sense, I think the Jaguar version looks phenomenal visually. The other ports look alright, but the Jaguar version just "pops".

No idea if the content is different, though.

>>1898763
Rayman on Jaguar is pretty good all things considered, but it does lack some of the nicer furnishings. That level where you have to escape the rising water lacks those nice rain drop particles for instance. And a lower diversity of background (but I guess that latter one is because of cartridge storage space issues).

>>1898763
>>1898776
What do you two think about the PC port?

>>1898864
Haven't played it. But isn't it supposed to be missing music?

>>1898682
Oh yeah. The dual shock definitely wasn't out when Wipeout XL came out, but was the original Playstation analog pad available yet?

Dude has a point about framerates though. As much as I wanted to like Sega Touring Car Championship the graphics really held that one back, unlike Sega Rally.

>>1898763
The Jaguar displayed sprites really nicely that way. Super Burnout is another game that just pops off the screen. Great use of color.

>>1896472
>>1898615
>>1898637
>>1898661
>>1898672
what about the PC port? is it good/better?

>>1899315
No idea. I just remember that on the PCs of the time, Wipeout ran like total shit.

>>1894157
wow what a bunch of shitty ass games

>>1899345
>Space Station Silicon Valley
>shitty
0/10 you didn't even try

>>1899315
yes. even the amiga version is better than that shit

>>1895009
>PS1 version has a slightly longer draw distance

I find that hard to believe. I picked up a copy of V8 2nd offense for PS1 from goodwill last year. I was pretty happy, because V8 on n64 was one of my favorite games. But when I tried to play it, the draw distance was so horrible that I was crashing into things because they wouldn't appear until they were right in front of my face.

If the N64 really has worse draw distance, I dread to think of how badly that game plays.

>>1899361
Yeah I've rented the N64 version many times and I don't remember having that problem.

>>1899361
>But when I tried to play it, the draw distance was so horrible that I was crashing into things because they wouldn't appear until they were right in front of my face.
That's weird, I didn't have that problem. Sure there's not something wrong with your PS1 CD drive or perhaps even scratches on the CD?

>>1899323
It ran just fine on a non-shit (read 3DFX equipped) PC. Was running a K6 200 and voodoo 1 at the time and it just flew. Looked lovely too. Only ever played the demo since I already owned the PSX version but they definitely didn't seem to do a bad job porting it. Would love to hear what the actual complaints are.

>>1899419
Oh with a Voodoo 1 I could understand it running well, but at the time it was ported there was no Voodoo 1 for over a year.

But I'm glad to hear that it runs well with 3D acceleration.

>>1899425
> mid-97
> No Voodoo for over a year
/vr/ - Revisionist History

Sorry but noooope. Voodoo 1 had well and truly kicked off by then and was rapidly becoming a standard requirement. This was 6 months+ after glQuake hit the scene.

Bought mine at the beginning of 97 and I was by no means the first or only one.

>>1899452
The PC port of Wipeout came out at the end of 1995.

>>1899453
Ah. Massive apologies. Skimmed the thread and assumed we were talking 2097/XL. Really must check out the original and see how it does hold up.

>>1899464
Actually I have to admit I was a little surprised for a moment to hear that the original Wipeout port had 3D acceleration support, so when you mentioned it I thought maybe it was patched in.

But yep, if you didn't have the top Pentium back in late 1995, Wipeout was a total lagfest.

Rayman 2 was better on n64 than ps1. Even the ps2 version wasn't as good since they forced in a pointless hub world and shitty controls. The improved graphics don't make up for it. Apparently the dreamcast version is the best of them all but I haven't played it.

Silhouette Mirage is Saturn > Playstation in my opinion.

>>1899472
Yes the Dreamcast version of Rayman 2 is great. Good textures, 60fps.

>>1899370
Same. No idea what he's talking about there but I played that game all the time and that never happened to me.