The 8-bit GAME COMPARISON Thread

Antiriad2097 · Post by **Antiriad2097** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 1:48 am

revgiblet wrote:(before anyone complains that the Speccie screenshot is not from the same place in the game as the other two it's because I couldn't get my emulator to take a screenshot. If anyone can recommend an easy to use, decent Speccie emulator that lets you take a screenshot then I'm listening...)

ZXSpin (or plain old Spin as its often called) will let you do that. The only thing is that you have to remember to add the .bmp extension when you save your screenshot or it throws a wobbler. Other than that it works fine. Its probably a good idea to convert the bmp to jpg before posting it online though. Do this in the app of your choice (e.g. irfanview)

Dudley · Post by **Dudley** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 3:22 am

I used Klive to take the turrican shot for Necro. It does take them in .pcx so you'll need something that can convert, irFan view will probably do it, I used Paint Shop Pro 7 (the last version before it became crap)

batman877 · Post by **batman877** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 4:25 am

revgiblet wrote:Lords of Midnight

Gameplay: In my windowed emulator this nipped along like the Speccy version, but in full-screen mode it was slower than a snail being delivered by Royal Mail. I'll give it the benefit of the doubt and assume that the windowed mode was the most accurate emulation.

Wow, the Amstrad is really taking some stick here. Are you sure you guys are emulating it correctly?

Seriously though, was Commando really as unplayable as you say? I-Ball was easily as good as the Speccy version and as for Turrican II, it's beautiful (the C64 version is just as blocky too!) Even Lords of Midnight gets it, when the Speccy version in particular is in no way superior.

revgiblet · Post by **revgiblet** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 4:55 am

batman877 wrote:Even Lords of Midnight gets it, when the Speccy version in particular is in no way superior.

It's now my quest to find a game that's better on the Amstrad and isn't one of the usual suspects (Gryzor etc.)

Wish me luck...

SirClive · Post by **SirClive** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 6:40 am

batman877 wrote:Seriously though, was Commando really as unplayable as you say? I-Ball was easily as good as the Speccy version and as for Turrican II, it's beautiful (the C64 version is just as blocky too!) Even Lords of Midnight gets it, when the Speccy version in particular is in no way superior.

Sorry but Commando was really that bad and just look at the creenshot for Lords of Midnight, it is plaint to see that the strad can't compete graphically. A lot of these games are Dudley right with his 'Random Colours' quote about the Amstrad.
As I said in a couple of my comparisons, the Amstrad games aren't that bad on their own, they just dont compare favourably with the others.

I think I will do a comparison tonight of one of the big Amstrad games like the aformentioned Gryzor or Barbarian II to see if they truly are that much better.

Robbo · Post by **Robbo** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 8:44 am

SirClive wrote:COMMANDO

AMSTRAD
The sound/music is terrible throughout and really harsh.

COMMODORE
The sound in OK, but is far from Rob Hubbard's best.

Agreed with you Sir Clive on everything you said on your comparison of the different versions of this game, EXCEPT for these two statements.

I think both versions here have wonderful music.

But like I said, this is just what I think, and you got everything else just about spot on to your credit mate!

SirClive · Post by **SirClive** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 8:53 am

Robbo wrote: I think both versions here have wonderful music.

But like I said, this is just what I think, and you got everything else just about spot on to your credit mate!

To be honest, I had only just finished playing a 128k hack on the Speccy that had really good music (cheers for the info psj

), so I may have been a bit harsh on the music side.

Scooby1970 · Post by **Scooby1970** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 9:37 am

I thought I would take a look at one of my favourite games ever.... Arkanoid.

C64 Version:

Graphics - 7/10 - The graphics are well defined, the background graphics nice but the colours seem a little drab compared to the other versions. Also, the play area is alot smaller than on the other versions.
Sound - 8/10 - A cracking little SID tune plays, and all the sound effects make good use of SID.
Gameplay - 7/10 - Probably not the best point of this version, however much better playability than the Speecy version.

Spectrum Version:

Graphics - 6/10 - Well laid out and good use of colour for a Speccy. The moving character sprites are not as well designed as other versions.
Sound - 5/10 - Not the best of the three versions!
Gameplay - 5/10 - Ouch! This is a hard one compared to the other versions when using the standard joystick or keyboard options.

Amstrad Version:

Graphics - 8/10 - Great use of colour and well designed sprites. Also use of CPC's overscan made it the correct ratio as the arcade version.
Sound - 8/10 - The AY chip is put to excellent use, with the sound sounding as good as, if not slightly better than the C64's version.
Playability - 9/10 - The CPC version plays like a dream! Everything about it feels like the arcade version.

Verdict:
One of the classic arcade games available on all three formats. Overall the CPC version comes up tops with great use of colour and sound and using the correct aspect ratio with over-scan on an original CPC.

Mark

felgekarp · Post by **felgekarp** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 9:50 am

batman877 wrote:
revgiblet wrote:Lords of Midnight

Gameplay: In my windowed emulator this nipped along like the Speccy version, but in full-screen mode it was slower than a snail being delivered by Royal Mail. I'll give it the benefit of the doubt and assume that the windowed mode was the most accurate emulation.
Wow, the Amstrad is really taking some stick here. Are you sure you guys are emulating it correctly?

I'm emulating the amstrad via an old shoe box, some blue tac, some sellotape and a set of crayola crayons, how is everybody else emulating it?

Rev. Stuart Campbell · Post by **Rev. Stuart Campbell** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 10:01 am

tcv wrote: Why does my NES version look so different?

It's almost like there are different variants?

So nobody bothered reading the Definitive Bubble Bobble (including Rainbow Islands), then? It was, like, ONE issue ago...

(Answer: there were two totally different versions of Rainbow Islands on the NES - a Japanese/US one with completely new levels and changed gameplay, and a PAL one by Ocean that was much truer to the original.)

tcv · Post by **tcv** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 10:58 am

Rev. Stuart Campbell wrote:
tcv wrote: Why does my NES version look so different?

It's almost like there are different variants?
So nobody bothered reading the Definitive Bubble Bobble (including Rainbow Islands), then? It was, like, ONE issue ago...

(Answer: there were two totally different versions of Rainbow Islands on the NES - a Japanese/US one with completely new levels and changed gameplay, and a PAL one by Ocean that was much truer to the original.)

Oh, I read it. But I was on a treadmill at the time and, well, the sweat kept falling on the book. I'm sorry! *sob*

psj3809 · Post by **psj3809** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 11:29 am

[quote="Scooby1970]
Gameplay - 5/10 - Ouch! This is a hard one compared to the other versions when using the standard joystick or keyboard options.[/quote]

I'm with you on that one. Strange as playing Arkanoid back in the day on the Speccy i thought was quite easy, loved playing that game now. Thought i had downloaded a super fast version or something, have a nightmare playing it now and it cant be due to my age !

necronom · Post by **necronom** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 1:53 pm

Scooby1970 wrote: but the colours seem a little drab compared to the other versions.

Another case of bad emulator palette. It doesn't look like your pic on a real C64.

Here are two examples that look close to how it should:

The first is from Gamebase, the second is using my RealC64(tm) palette, that matches what I see on my TV.

I'm going to have to have words with the emulator people...

Spector · Post by **Spector** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 2:25 pm

necronom wrote:
Scooby1970 wrote: but the colours seem a little drab compared to the other versions.
Another case of bad emulator palette. It doesn't look like your pic on a real C64.

Here are two examples that look close to how it should:

The first is from Gamebase, the second is using my RealC64(tm) palette, that matches what I see on my TV.

I'm going to have to have words with the emulator people...

A pity, because the second, truer screenshot looks far less appealing than the first.

Scooby1970 · Post by **Scooby1970** » Tue Oct 31, 2006 3:31 pm

necronom wrote: Another case of bad emulator palette. It doesn't look like your pic on a real C64....

Mmmmm.... funny really, cos the C64 picture I have done on my little review looks exactly like the real C64 colours in the game on my TV... Sure you not "tweaked" those two pics

Mark

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