Ghouls 'n Ghosts comparasion page

[AM2forever]

wayback://nfggames.com/games/GnG/

neat little page that compares
the SuperGrafx Ghouls 'n Ghosts to the Genesis one.

As good as those renditions were, neither compares to the X68000 Ghouls 'n Ghosts. This is TRUE arcade perfection.

see how not-arcade perfect the SG version really is. well its only 8-meg. the arcade was 2 MB  (16-meg) and the X68000 version is the same size.

btw, the X68000 for those that don't know, was a 16-Bit
computer in Japan made by Sharp and Hudson. Yep, Hudson did its custom hardware,  they also did the PCE's

I feel that the X68000 is what the SuperGrafx should have been. that is, a true 16-Bit machine with awesome graphics and audio, over and above the PCE/TG16.

Among its many fantastic 16-bit games, the X68000 has a rippin version of Castlevania and STRIDER that is a clone of the arcade, another game the SuperGrafx was meant to have!

[Jammaniaclord]

Pretty kick ass man! Thanks for that link!

[Shawn Carr2o]

Ghouls 'N Ghosts for the Super Grafx is better
than the Ghouls 'N Ghosts for the Genesis one
That I have. But I still like the Genesis version.
I need to buy the Super Grafx version soon.  

Will it play on my Core Grafx System. :

[kstyle251]

No

[Zerojean]

The X68000 vers should be good being released in 1994, they had more tthan enough time to get power out of it.

It does load like a motherfucker though, id stick with carts;)

[monads]

Looks cool.  I always thought the SuperGrafx version was best.  But man then you open my eyes and shatter my supergrafx GG dream.  Not so sure I'd like dealing with floppy disks on the X68000 though.

[Jammaniaclord]

Load times on the emulator aren't so bad.

[Zerojean]

Load times on the emulator aren't so bad.

What you using?

Been long time Win68k thinkiing of going to XM6, trued XM6 few moths back seemed coming on strong.

[Keranu]

Pretty cool link. I wanted to see what the differences were like.

I wish I could get x6800 emulators working, but I can't get any to work. I'll post problems I have had another time.

[RCduck7]

The supergrafx version is looking much better then the genesis one in the later levels. Altough the snes version (super gouls'n ghosts) overclassed the genesis one but it's differences are so obvious it's almost a different game. Like to have an X68000 one day but they're not easy to find.

[RCduck7]

Sorry to spoil the party here but there is no reason to have the supergrafx or x68000 version of ghouls'n ghosts.
Capcom generations on the playstation for my region (pal) comes as part 1-4 and has ghouls'n ghosts on it in arcade perfect glory.
At least when compared with the pictures on that link.
For some games of the collection like 1942 there's even a vertical mode if you have your playstation wired up on the apropiate monitor that's up for the job.

Of coursse if your in it for the collecting and want a complete mint in the box supergrafx version to stand there on your shelf...

[handygrafx]

sorry to spoil *your* party RCduck    but the 1994 X68000
Ghouls 'n Ghosts is actually closer to the 1988 CPS1 arcade original, than either of the 1998 Capcom Generation 2 versions on Playstation or Saturn. 

why?  how so? 

well, to keep it fairly short:

1.) resolution:  X68000 resolution is the same as the arcade, or at least closer to it than either PS1 or Saturn.  on Saturn, this results in "fat" graphics where everything is stretched and therefore it cuts off a little bit of both sides of the screen. on PS1, you get the full picture, however the whole game is slightly pixelated because of the lower resolution.

2.) color & brightness.   Saturn version's  color / hue is slightly off from the arcade, even though the same amount of color from arcade is there (unlike megadrive or supergrafx versions)  . the PS1 version suffers from a problem with its distant parallax backgrounds being washed out or too dark, and therefore hard to see

3.)  music and sound test.  both PS1 and Saturn are missing the ending music from their sound tests, and when you do get to hear the ending music, although it is the same tune, it sounds alot different from the arcade. the X68000 ending music perfect, and you can listen to it in the sound test.

4.) a frame or two of animation is missing from both the PS1 and Saturn versions in the 'power-up' sequence when you get the golden armor. Also,  you cannot see aurthors feet 'walk behind the grass' on both segments of the first level.  to be fair, the X68000 version is missing this also.

5.) slowdown.  the Saturn and PS1 both suffer from slowdown in different ways.  the Saturn version slows down dramatically on the 2nd half of the first level with all the tornados on screen, and the plant tenticles and flowers throwing skulls.  the PS1 version pauses when the music changes to boss music, and sometimes the audio is out-of-sync with the action


overall,  PS1 and Saturn versions are 98% exact to the arcade, whereas the X68000 is 99% exact.  this might seem like a lot of differences in the Saturn and PS1 - although  the Megadrive and SuperGrafx versions do indeed fall WAY short of the Saturn and PS1 Cap Gen 2 versions, but I wanted to point out that these supposedly arcade-perfect ports are not QUITE perfect.

if you are a Ghouls n Ghosts fan, there is a reason to own every version of the game.  but especially the X68000, Arcade (or MAME) and even the slightly flawed  Capcom Generation 2 on PS1 and Saturn, mainly for the art gallery and convienience of playing near-perfect versions.


a review of the X68000 GnG
wayback://illusionware.it/x68000/gng-x68.htm

Review

The x68000 version of Ghouls'n'Ghosts is supposed to be so good as to literally eclipse the Mega Drive and the SuperGrafx versions. Everything apparently looks and feels arcade perfect from the color palette to the graphical definition of the sprites and the backgrounds. The only annoying thing about this version is that it runs on disks although it should be possible to install the game on Hard Drive.

What really sets this version aside from the others is the deluxe packaging that is by itself, worth of the purchase!

It is interesting to notice that the red text to the left appears on the upper left side of the box (look up at the scan, it is hard to see but there are some writings in red). The text refers to Arthur bringing peace to the land 3 years before (it was 1985 when Ghosts'n'Goblins came out, and Ghouls'n'Ghosts showed up in the arcades in 1988).

Well to be honest, I don't know many people who played Ghosts'n'Goblins and who were actually able to finish it because of the near to impossible difficulty of the last stages. So I guess it's no wonder Evil returned shortly after

[Necro]

If you are going to emulate it just use the arcade rom with Mame...  I don't see why anyone would do anything else if they wanted to play it emulated. (and are concerned with arcade similarity that is)

[esteban]

...
overall,  PS1 and Saturn versions are 98% exact to the arcade, whereas the X68000 is 99% exact.  this might seem like a lot of differences in the Saturn and PS1 - although  the Megadrive and SuperGrafx versions do indeed fall WAY short of the Saturn and PS1 Cap Gen 2 versions, but I wanted to point out that these supposedly arcade-perfect ports are not QUITE perfect.

if you are a Ghouls n Ghosts fan, there is a reason to own every version of the game.  but especially the X68000, Arcade (or MAME) and even the slightly flawed  Capcom Generation 2 on PS1 and Saturn, mainly for the art gallery and convienience of playing near-perfect versions.
...

hey, thanks for the scoop handy grafx.  i've always been intrigued by the differences between various conversions of games.  i'd love to see a thorough comparison of the genny vs. DUO version of Forgotten Worlds (and other vs. comparisons... like Space Harrier HuCard -- how well does it do? Or Raiden, for that matter...).

[RCduck7]

Intresting reading...

Or you can buy an arcade cabinet with the PCB.  
Or alternatively and cheaper build your own cabinet with MAME.

I knew someone from the net that sold DVD's with thousends of games, MAME, PC engine, Neo Geo, ... ready to boot on a modified xbox console.
Sadly i lost contact with him and don't know where to get them.
Considering all the time and effort it would take to make them myself i can't be bothered.
Love to make my own cabinet someday.

[CrackTiger]

Here's the roms on DVD-

http://www.allmyroms.com/freemameroms.htm

Neither the Megadrive nor Supergrafx games were real ports, they are more like conversions.

Most of the art/graphics of the MD version is original/redrawn(simplified), like the SMS game, but looks arcadey on it's own(certainly when it came out).

The Supergrafx game uses more of the arcade's graphics art, but uses very few colors and wasn't touched up very much(the game could've been ported to regular PCE way better).

I've seen a couple message board posts detailing the ways that the MD version is better(like the crystals), but really, the SGX game is just being more faithful to the original in those aspects.

I've also read people saying that the sound sucks, but it seems more faithful(and usually just better) overall to me.

I can definately say that you can't judge it from an emulator, it looks a lot different running on real hardware.

As for the conversion VS port deal, its the same with Strider.

Try loading up both the arcade and Megadrive versions and check out every aspect of the bg's and watch the sprites. From what I remember, the MD bg's are pretty much all original(devoid of detail), I don't remember how many sprite's were faithful.

Now although most people only want to trash the ACD Strider, it actually uses bg art from the original, although it also wasn't cleaned up enough nor used anywhere near a decent ammount of color by PCE standards.

Where most sections of bg in the MD version are just a single color, there is archetecture in the ACD game.

Visually, if you really(for real) compare the 2 'ports' to the arcade original, the Megadrive/Genesis version looks nothing like the arcade and the ACD version at least tries.

All these people who rant and rave about the 'perfect' port of GnG to SGX or the 'perfect' port of Strider to MD never even try to compare them at all. They just turn on a single game and judge it's "conversion" by how impressed they are from playing the game on it's own.

And judging by how low color and untouched the visuals in are in GnG SGX, the ACD Strider is exactly how the SGX port would've turned out with similar effort, only minus flicker with added bg scrolling.

This is why I love any port on it's own merits(worts and all) instead of how another port supposedly outdid it.

[Keranu]

Here's the roms on DVD-

http://www.allmyroms.com/freemameroms.htm

Neither the Megadrive nor Supergrafx games were real ports, they are more like conversions.

Most of the art/graphics of the MD version is original/redrawn(simplified), like the SMS game, but looks arcadey on it's own(certainly when it came out).

The Supergrafx game uses more of the arcade's graphics art, but uses very few colors and wasn't touched up very much(the game could've been ported to regular PCE way better).

I've seen a couple message board posts detailing the ways that the MD version is better(like the crystals), but really, the SGX game is just being more faithful to the original in those aspects.

I've also read people saying that the sound sucks, but it seems more faithful(and usually just better) overall to me.

I can definately say that you can't judge it from an emulator, it looks a lot different running on real hardware.

As for the conversion VS port deal, its the same with Strider.

Try loading up both the arcade and Megadrive versions and check out every aspect of the bg's and watch the sprites. From what I remember, the MD bg's are pretty much all original(devoid of detail), I don't remember how many sprite's were faithful.

Now although most people only want to trash the ACD Strider, it actually uses bg art from the original, although it also wasn't cleaned up enough nor used anywhere near a decent ammount of color by PCE standards.

Where most sections of bg in the MD version are just a single color, there is archetecture in the ACD game.

Visually, if you really(for real) compare the 2 'ports' to the arcade original, the Megadrive/Genesis version looks nothing like the arcade and the ACD version at least tries.

All these people who rant and rave about the 'perfect' port of GnG to SGX or the 'perfect' port of Strider to MD never even try to compare them at all. They just turn on a single game and judge it's "conversion" by how impressed they are from playing the game on it's own.

And judging by how low color and untouched the visuals in are in GnG SGX, the ACD Strider is exactly how the SGX port would've turned out with similar effort, only minus flicker with added bg scrolling.

This is why I love any port on it's own merits(worts and all) instead of how another port supposedly outdid it.

Well put.

[esteban]

This is why I love any port on it's own merits(worts and all) instead of how another port supposedly outdid it.

preach on, brother

we needed you in the parallel thread at the magicengine forums a week or two ago

[handygrafx]

Excellent, terrific post, CrackTiger.

I agree almost 100% with everything you mentioned.


some people (not here but on other boards) need to especially read and absorb these statements:

Neither the Megadrive nor Supergrafx games were real ports, they are more like conversions.

Most of the art/graphics of the MD version is original/redrawn(simplified), like the SMS game, but looks arcade-y on it's own(certainly when it came out).

The Supergrafx game uses more of the arcade's graphics art, but uses very few colors and wasn't touched up very much(the game could've been ported to regular PCE way better).

All these people who rant and rave about the 'perfect' port of GnG to SGX or the 'perfect' port of Strider to MD never even try to compare them at all. They just turn on a single game and judge it's "conversion" by how impressed they are from playing the game on it's own.




does SuperGrafx


look the same as Arcade?




the 'arcade perfect' (not) SuperGrafx
/sgxghoulsbridge4fo.jpg


vs Arcade
/ghoulsbridge6wx.jpg
(look at the swamp background in the distance)



SuperGrafx
/ghoulssgxstage117ec.jpg



Arcade



still not convinced?


SuperGrafx stage 3-2
/ghoulssgxstage325zx.jpg


Arcade stage 3-2

Arcade stone monsters have claws, but not on SuperGrafx.
(clouds are much better too)


trial by fire!

photodump.com/direct/edgemagazine/SGXGhoulsCamolot(610x458).jpg

/ghoulsarcadecamolot600x4504ih.jpg


SuperGrafx
/ghoulssgxstage226au.jpg

Arcade
/ghoulsarcstage224iq.jpg


SuperGrafx
/sgxghoulsgate9zw.jpg
not much detail....

Arcade
/ghoulsgate2600x4506jy.jpg
look at the excellent DETAIL in the wall~entrance!

_______________
Arcade
/ghoulstentbones600x4504xq.jpg
detailed wall, bones, and tent!

_______________
SuperGrafx
/sgxghoulstent5dr.jpg
where'd all the great detail go?
________________
Arcade
/ghoulsbones600x4500fc.jpg
nice skeleton

________________
SuperGrafx
/sgxghoulsbones6di.jpg
hey! give the skeleton back! (lol)

/sgxghoulsfirepillar480x3601ho.jpg
/ghoulsarcadefire480x3602hu.jpg


Arcade
photodump.com/direct/edgemagazine/GhoulsArcadeCrystal(600x450).jpg

SuperGrafx
photodump.com/direct/edgemagazine/sgxghoulsCrystal(600x450).jpg



Arcade
geocities.com/theghoulrealm/ghoulsnghosts1.png

Saturn
geocities.com/theghoulrealm/capgen6.jpg